Tommy Tiernan Show recap: Aoife Commins shares a powerful message about HIV awareness
Aoife Commins on the Tommy Tiernan Show
A nurse living with HIV was among the guests of Saturday night’s Tommy Tiernan Show.
Aoife Commins told Tiernan how she contracted the virus while living in Sydney, despite regular — and recent — sexual health screenings.
“When I got diagnosed, there's a thing called a window period with HIV where it can take six to eight weeks to come up positive in the blood. He had only been tested about two weeks before his last unprotected sex. So it was a false negative,” she explained.
Commins said she tested to screen for STIs that could affect fertility and “was not in any way thinking HIV. That was not what I was worried about. But that is what I got.”
She said her diagnosis was a relief as doctors initially thought she had cancer and would need chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
“It was like, okay, I only take one tablet every day. That's it. So I just take my tablets and I'll go about my life and I have that's all I've done.”
Commins said she uses her experience “to educate and to advocate for other women with HIV” and she called for more education around it, particularly in schools.
Tiernan also heard from Dermot Whelan about his move from radio to mindfulness.
“I’m a meditation teacher. I blend the standup and meditation, which sounds weird but it's something I've been doing for about the last five years.”
He said he turned to mindful practices after experiencing a panic attack in 2007 en route to a comedy gig and finds it a helpful skill to this day.
“There are things in my mental toolbox I can reach for, things that I know work and for me, I know my stressors and my triggers.”
Whelan said calling time on his radio career last year after 20 years was a leap of faith but one he does not regret.
“I was with Dave [Moore} for those 20 years. I think I had six months of overnight DJing before myself and Dave are were put together [as Dermot and Dave on Today FM] and he's still my best mate.
“The reason we stayed together for so long was because we were best friends and we actually never had an argument in 20 years, which is weird. But obviously, I miss the radio in terms of I missed the craic.”
Finally, Tiernan spoke to singer Roisin Murphy about making a living as a singer as well as the challenges and opportunities of ageing in the music industry.
“I've never been extremely wealthy, but music has paid for my life and I'm very grateful for that,” she said.
She described her work as “seasonal” with bursts of being busy at key times of the year, such as festival season or when she is recording music.
Murphy said she knows her voice has changed over the years but not necessarily in a bad way.
“I didn't really feel like a singer for many years. I had to find my way around my voice and in some ways, it's gotten better, my voice, and in other ways, it is ageing. It's mentally better. Physically, maybe not.”
