WHAT A DIFFERENCE A DAY MAKES

An ongoing series in which we ask people to share the 24 hours that changed their lives.

Trevor O'Neill: ‘My autism diagnosis felt like a weight lifted off my shoulders’
Trevor O'Neill: ‘My autism diagnosis felt like a weight lifted off my shoulders’
Midleton-based Trevor O’Neill describes two key moments that led to him gaining a sense of purpose and of himself — and the confidence to see things through

Fri, 06 Feb, 2026

What a Difference a Day Makes: Julie Kelleher — ‘I can wholeheartedly say I don’t miss my uterus’
S What a Difference a Day Makes: Julie Kelleher — ‘I can wholeheartedly say I don’t miss my uterus’
Theatre director Julie Kelleher describes the watershed moment of having a hysterectomy — how it brought physical relief, as well as an essential opportunity to reflect

Thu, 29 Jan, 2026

Claire Malone: Before getting bloods done ahead of IVF, I did a pregnancy test...
S Claire Malone: Before getting bloods done ahead of IVF, I did a pregnancy test...
Transplanted reluctantly to County Louth just days after becoming a first-time mother, the actor and singer Claire Malone was sure she could never live anywhere but Dublin, where she’d been a busy girl-about-town. She describes the journey to finally feeling she had truly come home

Fri, 23 Jan, 2026

Nicola Keating: 'My husband was a binge gambler for 17 years. Each time I forgave him'
S Nicola Keating: 'My husband was a binge gambler for 17 years. Each time I forgave him'
For 17 years, Dublin mother-of-three Nicola Keating lived with a problem gambler — until one day came a realisation that propelled her to say ‘stop’. She tells Helen O’Callaghan about that and other turning points in her life with her husband, a man she loves dearly

Thu, 15 Jan, 2026

John Blek: It was the newest thing I’d experienced in 38 years, I’d no idea what I was doing
S John Blek: It was the newest thing I’d experienced in 38 years, I’d no idea what I was doing
Cork musician John Blek talks to Helen O’Callaghan about the birth of his daughter in November 2024, about the change it brought to his lifestyle — both personally and professionally — and how he has been balancing raising a child with trying to retain key aspects of who he was before she was born

Thu, 08 Jan, 2026

'The lotto had been won... my parents were both in the syndicate. There was no mention of leaving college'
S 'The lotto had been won... my parents were both in the syndicate. There was no mention of leaving college'
As a young woman, all Marie McMahon wanted was to study fashion but it was financially difficult on her parents. She describes the stroke of good fortune that secured her college career

Fri, 02 Jan, 2026

Panto dame Fionula Linehan: When I was younger I’d gone to theatre, watched it, loved it
Panto dame Fionula Linehan: When I was younger I’d gone to theatre, watched it, loved it
Ireland’s only female panto dame, Fionula Linehan describes being in hospital and bidding goodbye to a sport she’d held dear — before life unexpectedly opened a door that led to a new passion she has been living since

Fri, 26 Dec, 2025

Sarah Maria Griffin — The last thing you want is to be a medical mystery when you’re 30 weeks pregnant
Sarah Maria Griffin — The last thing you want is to be a medical mystery when you’re 30 weeks pregnant
Author Sarah Maria Griffin describes the tense weeks before her firstborn’s early arrival — and how the miracle of life and birth has made her a much more optimistic person

Thu, 18 Dec, 2025

What a Difference a Day Makes: I’m glad the judge said those words — without them, it’d have been a slower process to here
What a Difference a Day Makes: I’m glad the judge said those words — without them, it’d have been a slower process to here
Dennis Horgan’s new book of aerial photography, The Coast of Cork — A View from Above, showcases Cork’s maritime features, including high- and low-level coastal panoramas, shipwrecks, lighthouses, marine wildlife, deep sea fishing and cruise ships

Thu, 04 Dec, 2025

JULIA KELLY
S Julia Kelly: A two-week stay at Annaghmakerrig led to becoming a writer and mother
Author Julia Kelly describes a time, almost 20 years ago now, when her life was at a low ebb, career-wise and romantically — and how a two-week stay at the Tyrone Guthrie Centre, Annaghmakerrig, gave her an identity, a way to live

Thu, 20 Nov, 2025

What a Difference a Day Makes: Eamonn Keaveney — It’s the trip of a lifetime, just with sore feet
S What a Difference a Day Makes: Eamonn Keaveney — It’s the trip of a lifetime, just with sore feet
Irish adventurer Eamonn Keaveney has been walking barefoot across Europe for the past eight months, breaking a Guinness World Record on the way. He tells Helen O’Callaghan about the ups and downs, the state of his feet — and why he’s doing this for Jigsaw, Ireland’s youth mental health charity, and for Friends of the Earth

Thu, 13 Nov, 2025

What a Difference a Day Makes: 'Grief is as physical as it is emotional'
S What a Difference a Day Makes: 'Grief is as physical as it is emotional'
Hotelier and co-founder of Pancreatic Cancer Ireland Niall Rochford talks to Helen O’Callaghan about his love for his wife, Stella, his grief at losing her — and his mission to raise awareness of a disease he calls shocking and savage, as well as raise funds for a rapid diagnosis centre in Ireland

Thu, 06 Nov, 2025

What a Difference a Day Makes: From widows' groups online to lockdown love-affair
S What a Difference a Day Makes: From widows' groups online to lockdown love-affair
Business woman Ezara Ahern-Easter tells Helen O’Callaghan how Covid lockdowns provided the perfect circumstances for her to forge a deep relationship with a man, 4,000 miles away, who would become her husband.

Thu, 30 Oct, 2025

What a Difference a Day Makes: 'I was prepared to end it all — my dog is the reason I'm here today'
What a Difference a Day Makes: 'I was prepared to end it all — my dog is the reason I'm here today'
Counsellor and author Tony Walsh tells Helen O’Callaghan about a series of events that took place – and particularly one standout day – when he was about nine years old, and how from that he learned the value of empathy and compassion, attitudes that became central to how he lives his life.

Sat, 25 Oct, 2025

Budget 2019
S What a Difference a Day Makes: How a childhood injury stayed with me for a lifetime
Award-winning chef and author Brian McDermott tells Helen O’Callaghan how a traumatic injury sustained when he was 10 was a force for addressing a health issue much later in life. And how he is only now acknowledging that the childhood injury was a massive deal for him – a process of re-connection that he describes as grounding and confidence-building. 

Thu, 16 Oct, 2025

SIOBHAN O DEA
What a Difference a Day Makes: ‘A wheel came off his chair — if we didn’t laugh, we’d cry’
Grandmother Siobhán O’Dea recalls the fateful day when her beloved older brother, Michael, told her he had motor neurone disease. She tells Helen O’Callaghan how life changed in that moment

Sat, 04 Oct, 2025

What a Difference a Day Makes: Rapper GodKnows on 'giving back to God'
What a Difference a Day Makes: Rapper GodKnows on 'giving back to God'
Zimbabwean-Irish rapper Munyaradzi GodKnows Jonas tells Helen O’Callaghan how a pastor’s words, spoken a dozen years ago, gave him a new confidence and self-belief – but also motivated him to life his life in kindness to others on a musical path.

Fri, 26 Sep, 2025

What a Difference a Day Makes: 'It hit me like a thunderbolt one day that there is no God'
S What a Difference a Day Makes: 'It hit me like a thunderbolt one day that there is no God'
Humanist celebrant Dominic Moore tells Helen O’Callaghan about a realisation that came on a summer day in 2018 and how it freed him to live his life fully and authentically.

Thu, 11 Sep, 2025

What A Difference A Day Makes: ‘One minute you’re not a mom. The next you are. I was ready’
S What A Difference A Day Makes: ‘One minute you’re not a mom. The next you are. I was ready’
Curator and founder of Apsara Studio in London Jenn Ellis talks to Helen O’Callaghan about having her firstborn in May – and about discovering how to be a mother on her terms, rather than listening to unhelpful narratives around motherhood.

Thu, 04 Sep, 2025

What a Difference a Day Makes: 'Dad’s death turned my world upside down'
S What a Difference a Day Makes: 'Dad’s death turned my world upside down'
Alix Mulholland of Field Day: "It was a huge blow to us all — my two older sisters, my little brother still in school, my mum only in her 50s, she really struggled. It took us a long time to heal."

Thu, 28 Aug, 2025

What A Difference A Day Makes: Taliban battle made me realise what matters in life
What A Difference A Day Makes: Taliban battle made me realise what matters in life
After building a strong following in Belfast and Bristol, Juice Jar CEO Sam Shephard opened the brand’s first store in the Republic, on Dublin’s Dawson St, this spring. By mid-July, it had welcomed 62,000 customers and served 15,000 açaí bowls

Thu, 21 Aug, 2025

What a Difference a Day Makes with Paula Fagan: 'The marriage referendum was healing'
S What a Difference a Day Makes with Paula Fagan: 'The marriage referendum was healing'
The passing of the marriage referendum was definitely healing. My partner, Denise, and I had been involved in the Marriage Equality campaign since 2006

Thu, 14 Aug, 2025

What a Difference a Day Makes: ‘I asked for one more chance; to survive, to be well, and I got it’
What a Difference a Day Makes: ‘I asked for one more chance; to survive, to be well, and I got it’
Paddy Rafter found a way to live contentedly and in freedom, having from an early age lived a life of addiction and trauma. What helped him to find his way to peace forms the inspiration for his recently published self-help book ‘The 48 Acts’.

Sat, 09 Aug, 2025

JOE MASON
S What a Difference a Day Makes: 'The war was going on, but 90% of people were interested in peace'
Joe Mason, CEO of intellectual-disability charity WALK, discusses the decision to respond to the Russian invasion of Ukraine with disability aid

Thu, 31 Jul, 2025

What a Difference a Day Makes: 'MS isn’t the life sentence it was, I’m living proof of that'
S What a Difference a Day Makes: 'MS isn’t the life sentence it was, I’m living proof of that'
Receiving an MS diagnosis in March 2020 just as Covid-19 locked down Ireland, Co Mayo dad-of-one Andy Walsh wondered if he was facing his own personal shutdown. He tells Helen O’Callaghan about that iconic day, and how by pushing his limits and re-defining what’s possible, he’s in a better place than he ever expected.

Thu, 24 Jul, 2025

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