WIMS FM 2016

St Patrick’s Head of Communications, Sarah Surgenor, filled us in on WIMS FM and what to expect in the week ahead. Ciara and Jon were also joined in studio by Minister for Mental Health and Older People, Helen McEntee, and RTÉ 2FM broadcaster, Eoghan Mc Dermott.

Shay caught up with Walk in My Shoes Ambassador, U2’s Adam Clayton, who flew in from the United States especially to be a part of our radio this week. Shay also chatted to Ireland AM Presenter, Sinead Desmond. Plus, St Patrick’s cognitive behavioural therapist, Patricia Maher, filled us in about her work with the travelling community.

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Counselling psychologist Leslie Shoemaker discussed peer support and how to advise those helping loved ones in need of mental health support. Sarah also addressed  controversy surrounding the use of anti-anxiety medication with Professor Patricia Casey from the Mater Hospital. And St Patrick’s Head of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Colette Kearns, talked the A-Z of CBT.

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Michael Doherty from the RTÉ Guide explored how mental health is depicted in the movies. Counselling psychologist, Michael Ryan, had advice on coming out for gay teens. Plus, how can volunteering help the volunteer? We were joined by Eamonn Victory from Gorta-Self Help Africa.

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We had live music from the High Hopes choir, comedian and Republic of Telly presenter Joanne McNally joined us in studio, and we discussed coaching and the role of a coach in a young person’s life with Irish boxer Darren O’Neill and Liam Moggan from the Irish Sports Council.

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Alison chatted to Orla Crosbie from Alcohol Action and to nutritional therapist Olive Curran about the positive effects of omega. The legendary Jason McAteer opened up on RTÉ’s The Late Late Show about his own experience of mental health difficulties: he also chatted to Alison during the show.

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Singer songwriter Luke Clerkin sang us some songs and talked about the touring he did over the summer.

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Hear from Craig Rankin, a young Dubliner with Spina Bifida who now trains in John Kavangh's Straight Blast Gym alongside the likes of Conor McGregor and Pat Murphy from Lifering

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RTÉ's Eileen Dunne came in to review papers, and also took part in an interview about herself, her work, how she keeps healthy, and her love of the GAA. Dr Niall Muldoon spoke on the work of the Children’s Ombudsman, while Jackie Lavin, former model and current entrepreneur, discussed the stresses of running a small business, the failure of those enterprises due to the recession, her coping skills and the courage to start again. Mike Quigley, yoga teacher and personal trainer, also put Shay through his paces!

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Singer-songwriter Brian Kennedy came into studio while Pat also caught up with GP and TV star, Dr Ciara Kelly, and CEO of Pieta House, Brian Higgins. 

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Nuala Carey and Brent Pope joined St Patrick’s Head of Communications, Sarah Surgenor, and author of the blog Sunny Spells and Scattered Showers, Fiona Kennedy. Broadcaster Nikki Hayes talked about her own personal struggles, and Judy Moran of St Patrick’s spoke about panic attacks. Chef, columnist and author Sophie White talked about her life and her new book, while musician and percussionist Tom Quinn spoke about how drumming can have a powerful healing effect on our moods and emotions.

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We had The Swing Cats live in studio, Chris Flack from Unplug.ie talking about digital detoxing, Trish and Jennifer from SpunOut, and Jules Coll talking about her experience of emotional eating!

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Debbie Van Tonder, Cognitive Psychotherapist with St Patrick’s, discussed the rising issue of burnout and what we can do about it. One woman shared a hopeful story of how her son, who had been on drugs since his teens and in and out prison, had recently gone into recovery and is doing great. Benji Bennett, author of Adam’s Cloud, shared his story of losing his son Adam  and how he keeps his memory alive through beautiful children books. Donal Scanlan, Project Manager with Mental Health First Aid, explained how important mental health first aid is in the workplace.

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Sarah Doyle from the Better Life Project came into us, as did Dermot Malone from Banjoman films. We also hadLorna Weightman from Style Isle Irl who will be discussing her experience with anxiety.

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On the first show of the day, Helen Redmond, nutrionist, spoke on the benefits of healthy eating, while we also heard from Roisin Whelan from Mindworthy and Joanne Donohoe on their Menasa project.

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Paul Mitchell of Click and Go told us how to take the stress out of foreign travel and occupational therapist Sherrie Buckley walked us through the therapeutic garden at St. Patrick’s.

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We were joined by Sian Sharkey and Alyson Smyth, one of Ireland’s leading hair and makeup teams with tips on taming wedding day woes. And whether you're planning your nuptials or a birthday bash, top party-planners from The Hip Hooray will get your creative juices flowing. Psychotherapist Paula McHugh was on hand to help us unleash our body’s power to heal through dance. Plus, Professor Jim Lucey explained how a calm mind is a happy mind and shared the tools to set us on the right road. Cook Catherine Leyden planned to tempt us all back into the kitchen with her scrumptious, three-ingredient scones. Then, she co-starred with Saoirse Ronan in Brooklyn, and now actress Niamh McCann chatted about her new production at the Dublin Theatre Festival. And the blues have never sounded so good: musician Colm Skwirbat rounded off our day with a tune on his homemade cigar box guitar. Not a show to miss!

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The show's guests included musical therapist Paula Higgins from St Patrick’s;  Neil Kelders and Miriam Dowling, talking about the Green Ribbon report and their own personal journeys with depression; and Mary Ananda Shakti on laughter yoga.

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We had Tyco the dog and Clare, his owner, from Irish Therapy Dogs and Ree Day, senior dog trainer with King of Paws and the Dublin Society of Prevention to Cruelty to Animals (DSPCA), chatting to Laura and Dustin about the role pets can play in recovery from mental health difficulties. Elva Carri and members of GirlCrew were in studio too. GirlCrew is an online community for offline events for women. 

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Cherry Sue discussed her blog, post-partum depression and mental health awareness and being a single mum. Jordan from Humans of Dublin also discussed his battle with mental health.

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We were joined by Jill O’Herlihy from Mental Health Ireland; Anthony O’Donnell who lost 11 stone to get healthy and experience good mental health; and Enda O'Doherty who was preparing to climb Mount Kilimanjaro while carrying a washing machine in aid of Pieta House. 

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Dr Colman Noctor talked to us about his book Cop On, his work with adolescents, and taking part in the Web Summit.  Carrie Crowley talked about beginning working life as a teacher, her life in Waterford, how she stays well, and what it's like to play Jackie, a character on RTÉ's Fair City experiencing mental health difficulties. Colm Hayes also spoke about Cycle Against Suicide.

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Dr Francis Valloor talked about the healing power of forgiveness. We got a taste of Apres Match with the incomparable Barry Murphy dropping by. Top fitness team FitPros talked women and weights, and debunked some common work-out myths. Pedigree pooch lover Pete the Vet talked about the scourge of puppy farming,and told us how to keep our critters out of harms way at Halloween. And Dr Olivia Hurley talked myths and facts about mental fitness.

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Lisa Gernon and Pat O’Mahony interviewed Macra na Feirme’s President Seán Finan. Sinead Lynch spoke about how to keep that summer feeling during the long dark winter nights, while we also heard from Breege Leddy, sleep technologist, and Stephanie Lynch and Sara Mason from Adventure Therapy.

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We heard from Robert Gill, the Addiction Services Coordinator of the Dual Diagnosis Programme at St Patrick’s; Peter O’Sullivan, psychotherapist, who shared his recovery story; Rachael Dempsey from Global Harmonies who taught Dustin some vocal excercises; and much, much more!

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Rick O’Shea interviewed Dave Lordan, poet; Arnold Fanning, playwright; Kate Quigley about Flying South stand-up night; and Oisin Fagan, novelist and writer.

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Joanna Fortune, journalist, spoke about about an article she wrote about the effects of social media on teens. Musician Tadhg and author Maria Fusco also dropped in.

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Dil Wickremasinghe from Newstalk, standup comic Emmet Glynn, and stylist Grace Moore all joined us in studio.

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Professor Jim Lucey, Medical Director of St Patrick’s, took a call from the Mental Health and Wellbeing Summit 2016 where he is a keynote speaker. Audrey Cunningham of Market Match PR shared the stresses of setting up and running a small enterprise.  Victor and William Clarke, solicitors in Carlow who love challenging themselves physically and mentally, talked about planning to cross Iceland in 10 days by running, climbing and kayaking.

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Scintillating cinephile Michael Doherty talked feel-good movie moments. We got some advice to become a better parent by mothering (or fathering!) yourself, as well as tips to get into the kitchen with the kids at Halloween. And we had an incredible musical guest. Don't miss out!

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Joining Brent Pope and Lisa Gernon were Amanda McArdle of Walk in My Shoes; former professional footballer and television soccer personality and analyst Richie Sadlier, and singer/ songwriters Fiach Moriarty and Laura Elizabeth Hughes. 

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Tom Maher from St Patrick's chatted about workplace stress. Rory McInerney from Fitter Faster Stronger spoke about anxiety among millennials. Robert Carley joined to share his experiences of mental health difficulties and his recovery, and Jim Breen reviewed a recent mental health conference.

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Corina and Rebecca interviewed Ian Power from SpunOut.ie, fashion blogger Emma Carty, nutritionist Orla Walsh, and Margaret Bourke, adolescent nurse practitioner.

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Madge O'Callaghan told us about My Uncle Jack, her New York Radio Festival award-winning radio documentary. 

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Aisling O’Loughlin began her broadcasting career while studying journalism at Dublin City University (DCU). As part of her internship, she worked on the Today with Pat Kenny Show on RTÉ Radio 1 where she reported on a range of current affairs subjects. She later completed her studies in Toulouse. After returning to Ireland, Aisling joined Clare FM where she read the news and also reported on local issues. She spent some time as a radio journalist before embarking on a career with the print media as a reporter with the Evening Echo and the Limerick Leader. In 2001, Aisling  switched to television when she joined TV3 News, where she began working in the newsroom behind the scenes. She subsequently spent six years as a general news reporter and as a relief newsreader before moving from TV3’s news and current affairs programming. Aisling joined TV3’s new entertainment show Xposé when it launched in 2007.

Aisling Riordan is an award-winning journalist and producer who has worked in the media industry for over 12 years across TV, radio, print and online in many organisations including RTÉ, Newstalk, CBC and Good News Toronto newspaper. She has presented and reported on programmes like RTÉ’s Nationwide, News2day and Morning Ireland. Aisling has a keen interest in the area of mental health. As the reporter for RTÉ’s Morning Edition TV programme, she had the opportunity to focus on this with her Positive Mental Health mini-series. In 2015, she came up with the idea and organised the #LightUpOrange campaign which saw over 50 landmarks and thousands of homes across the island of Ireland lighting up orange on World Suicide Prevention Day to help spread the message “It’s ok not to feel ok; and it’s absolutely ok to ask for help”. In 2016, a petition she started helped reverse a Health Service Executive (HSE) decision to divert allocated funding away from the mental health budget to other areas.

Alison Canavan is a columnist, health and wellness coach, and an award-winning author of Minding Mum. Having travelled the world as one of Ireland’s most successful international models for nearly two decades, in recent years, she has devoted her time to her greatest passions: parenting, health and wellbeing. Helping people to join the dots with their health and wellbeing is Alison’s primary goal and passion which led her to create her new website, becomplete.ie. Her interest in nutrition began in 2009 when she started studying Fitness Nutrition Coaching under the National Exercise and Sports Trainers Association (NESTA) in the United States. She graduated with a distinction in Nutrition and Health Coaching from Irish Institute of Nutrition and Health (IINH), where she is continuing her studies in Nutritional Therapy. Alongside that, she has been studying for a Raw Foods Mastery Level 3 at the Life Change Health Institute. Alison has become a much sought-after motivational speaker and regularly does talks on health and wellbeing in schools, companies and events around the country, and is a regular contributor to radio and TV shows.

Brent Pope is a former New Zealand rugby player domiciled in Ireland since 1991. Brent is a rugby broadcaster for RTE for over 20 years working alongside the controversial George Hook, he is also an accomplished children’s book author publishing 8 books all for children’s charities since 1985. In 2012, Brent wrote an autobiography entitled If You Really Knew Me, which was shortlisted as one of the United Kingsom’s top sporting books of that year. Brent has curated his own art gallery for outsider artists, and celebrated their inspirational work in a recent and acclaimed RTE documentary. He also has his own fashion brand label called POPE and has appeared in many of Ireland's top television and radio show,s including the Hook and Popey Roadshow, The Late Late Show, the Saturday Night Show, Instrumental, Eurostar, The Restaurant, No Frontiers and many others. Brent is an ambassador for many Irish mental health charities, including Walk in My Shoes, Cycle Against Suicide, and Pieta House, and is one of Ireland's leading speakers on mental health. Brent is currently juggling a busy television and fashion career with a return to study a masters in psychotherapy with University College Cork (UCC).

Ciara Whelan and Jon Slattery are best known for fronting The Holiday Show on TV3. Ciara, who is one part Kilkenny, one part south County Dublin, is also a producer who can be found behind the camera working mostly on TV commercials for some of Ireland’s favourite brands. Jon was the original face and voice of RTÉ2 and hails from County Kildare, where his career in the media began on pirate radio. Having worked on the airways for a decade, he made the move to television and now runs production company Trilogy Media.

Corina Grant-Doyle has been in the fashion industry for over 20 years. Now, she is a makeup artist as well as a TV stylist, columnist and Transition Year tutor. Along with Rebecca Horan, the two girls work together on their blog, rebeccaandcorina.com, and run Transition Year workshops for teenage girls dealing with all aspects of life, from life skills to fears to body image.

Elaine Crowley is an journalist, presenter and newsreader, best known for presenting TV3’s Midday since 2010.

John Moynes is a poet and comedian who has been writing for television and radio for over twenty years. He performed in the pioneering mental health play, A Box of Frogs, and also SeeChange’s Mad Craic Comedy Show. John also writes for broadsheet.ie and is a regular contributor on Newstalk FM.

 Laura Woods is part of the presenting team at weekends on SaturdayAM and SundayAM. She has also presented IrelandAM for TV3 and Renovation Nation. She has been with TV3 for five years and, previously, she was with RTÉ for 11 years, presenting a wide selection of programmes: The World Poker Championships, The Trump Card, Big Money Game, Winning Streak, National Lotter Draws, Festival of World Cultures, and many more. She also contributed to Will Leahy’s show on RTÉ 2FM for five years. As a graduate of Sociology and French at Trinity College, she was delighted to be a student on the first ever year of the postgraduate Diploma course in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), which was run by Trinity and St Patrick’s University Hospital.

Lisa Gernon is a TV producer and radio broadcaster, and has been working in the media industry for over a decade after returning to Ireland from San Francisco in 2003. She began working as a researcher with RTÉ and, over the years, has worked on Ireland’s most popular day time TV shows, including The Afternoon Show, The Daily Show and Today. Radio is her true love and has always gone hand in hand with her TV career. She’s interviewed Daniel Day Lewis about the work he’s done with the Wicklow Hospice and sat down with Martin Sheen to discuss his friendship with Irish priest Father Shay Cullen. She is currently presenting Nova Nights on Radio Nova.

Arguably one of Ireland’s favourite broadcasters, Marty Whelan is a much loved award-winning radio and television personality who frequently hosts conferences and events all over Ireland. Marty’s professional and relaxed manner keeps audiences entertained, while also taking on the serious business of presenting awards and keeping events on track. As well as his charity work and being seen and heard on RTÉ radio and television, Marty has presented a variety of shows including Winning Streak, Open House, Celebrity Bainisteoir and many more. Marty takes the chill out of early morning starts with music, news, weather and travel updates on the popular show, Marty in the Morning on RTE radio. Marty is also a previous winner of the VIP Style Award for Most Stylish Man and launched his memoir, That’s Life, in Dublin.

Dublin-born RTÉ Weather and National Lottery presenter, Nuala Carey, is delighted to be joining the team for the second consecutive year to support WIMS. It’s been a busy year for her since last September, co – presenting some ‘Winning Streak’ programmes with Marty Whelan and co–hosting the Today Show with Daithi O’ Se. After graduating from Univesity College Dublin with a BA in English and Sociology, her initial job in the media was presenting traffic reports for AA Roadwatch on RTE’s Radio 1, so she is really looking forward to returning to this medium and sharing the microphone with some great guests. Nuala is relishing the chance to take on the challenge of co–hosting two hours of live radio ,and her plan is to bring some afternoon ‘sunshine’ to WIMS. She would encourage people to get in touch with the show (but apologises in advance that she cannot give you next week’s Lotto numbers or forecast better weather). Nuala promises to play lots of uplifting music and hopes you will enjoy listening to the programme, mindful that the objective of WIMS FM is to create awareness around mental health issues.

Pat O'Mahony is an award-winning, Dublin-based producer, director and presenter for both television and radio, with over 27 years of broadcasting experience in Ireland and the United Kingdom. Pat is an ideas originator and developer - and even an occasional journalist. 

Rebecca Horan is a broadcast journalist in Dublin. For over three years, she worked as a newsreader in Newstalk, 98FM and Today FM. Rebecca joined Irish TV, where she produces and presents a weekly show called ‘Dublin County Matters’ and presents other live productions. She also has editorial oversight in the newsroom. Rebecca is a regular contributor to Ireland AM and RTE Today and has been published in the Irish Examiner.

Rick has been a radio presenter with RTÉ 2FM since 2001. His weekend show includes music and has included interviews with One Direction, Daniel Craig, Russell Brand, The Manic Street Preachers, Daniel Radcliffe and Bill Bailey, as well as live performances from the likes of Ed Sheeran, Bell X1 and Stereophonics. The show has twice won Bronze PPI Radio Awards. He’s also the presenter of The Poetry Programme on RTÉ Radio 1.

Sarah has a degree in History from Trinity College and a postgraduate diploma in Business Studies from UCD. She pursued a career in marketing and public relations with various technology firms and then began writing her blog, GUBU. She has been a columnist for The Sunday Times, The Irish Times and currently The Sunday Independent. Sarah presents Talking Point on Newstalk radio on Saturdays.

Shay Byrne is the well-known host RTÉ Radio 1’s Rising Time. He has been the voice of RTÉ’s Winning Streak for the last seven years and is also Radio 1’s Eurovision commentator! Shay is married with three young children. Over the years in his role as a reporter and presenter, he has covered many issues relating to parenting and mental health and will this year take on the annual Paris2Nice cycle in aid of various charities.