What a Difference a Day Makes

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A DAY MAKES

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

<p>Folk singer and songwriter, John Blek, among his new daughter's baby toys at home in Castletownroche, Co Cork. Picture: Larry Cummins</p>

S people

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

<p>What Difference a Day Makes... Marie McMahon at the Tipperary Museum of Hidden History in Clonmel. Marie McMahon's parents were in a syndicate that won the lotto back in the early 90s — it meant she could afford continue her expensive fashion design course. Pictures: Larry Cummins</p>

S people

'The lotto had been won... my parents were both in the syndicate. There was no mention of leaving college'

<p>Panto dame Fionula Linehan in full costume on stage at the Everyman with Dolly proudly leading the pack during a special visit from My Canine Companion puppies-in-training ahead of this year’s Cinderella! panto. Picture: Chani Anderson</p>

people

Panto dame Fionula Linehan: When I was younger I’d gone to theatre, watched it, loved it

people

Sarah Maria Griffin — The last thing you want is to be a medical mystery when you’re 30 weeks pregnant

people

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

S people

Julia Kelly: A two-week stay at Annaghmakerrig led to becoming a writer and mother

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

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

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'

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

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

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'

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

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

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

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

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

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’

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

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

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

S What a Difference a Day Makes: A honeymoon resort, and I was there on my own!

In January 2022, Cork director and writer Lochlainn McKenna, then in his late 20s, had a moment of intense loneliness on a Costa Rican beach. He tells Helen O’Callaghan how it solidified his sense that life is about connection and sharing experiences with others

Sat, 19 Jul, 2025

S What a Difference a Day Makes: Selling my business to prioritise my young son after an ADHD diagnosis

Scientist, entrepreneur and mother-of-one Dr Barbara Paldus tells Helen O’Callaghan about the life-changing decision to sell her business and prioritise her son, after he’d been diagnosed with ADHD and doctors warned he was at risk of very serious self-harm.

Thu, 03 Jul, 2025

S What a Difference a Day Makes: Rapper Raphael Olympio on the man who changed everything

Raised in Cork, rapper and poet Raphael Olympio fled Togo, West Africa, along with his family, when he was five. He tells Helen O’Callaghan about a neighbour in Togher who taught him the game of hurling, helping Olympio and his family to integrate. And how, inspired by this childhood mentor, he himself now works in integration.

Fri, 27 Jun, 2025

What a Difference a Day Makes: How Carol Drinkwater found her 'house by the sea'

For 10 years, multi-award-winning actor and writer Carol Drinkwater searched for her ‘house by the sea’. She tells Helen O’Callaghan how there was no going back once she finally found it — and how despite many obstacles encountered over decades she has held fast to the sure knowledge that this is home

Fri, 13 Jun, 2025

S What A Difference A Day Makes: ‘My Austrian piano teacher connected me directly to Liszt’

As soon as we got the piano, I was able to play it the same day. Something I’d heard on TV, radio, I was able to repeat

Thu, 05 Jun, 2025

S What A Difference A Day Makes: Ernest Cantillon on opening Electric at 27 — and why closing it broke his heart

After 13 years running Electric on the South Mall, its owner shares the personal journey behind its rise, closure, and what came next.

Fri, 30 May, 2025

S What A Difference A Day Makes: Lorraine Desmond on raising children with CFC

Teacher at Our Lady of Good Counsel Special School and mum-of-three Lorraine Desmond tells Helen O’Callaghan about the day her two sons were diagnosed with a rare syndrome – and describes how it was a moment of disappointment but also resolution

Thu, 22 May, 2025

S Fiona Gratzer: A chance encounter on an island off Malaysia changed the trajectory of my life

Unislim CEO and author Fiona Gratzer tells Helen O’Callaghan about the many beautiful gifts her late husband, Uwe, brought to her life

Thu, 15 May, 2025

S What A Difference A Day Makes: 'I felt a really strong presence of my dad before I went on stage'

A shocking phone call, an urgent flight home — actor and writer Irene Kelleher tells Helen O’Callaghan about losing her beloved dad, and a moment of powerful connection she felt with him as she was about to go onstage at the Edinburgh Fringe

Fri, 09 May, 2025

S What A Difference A Day Makes: I was pregnant when I found out I was BRCA positive

Owner of LNH Edit, Laura Nolan Horgan changed the day she found out she was BRCA positive. She describes the immediate fallout of discovering she had a gene that put her at higher risk of cancer – but how it ultimately made her a more resilient, grateful person.

Thu, 01 May, 2025

Lifestyle

Newsletter

The best food, health, entertainment and lifestyle content from the Irish Examiner, direct to your inbox.

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A DAY MAKES

John Blek: It was the newest thing I’d experienced in 38 years, I’d no idea what I was doing

'The lotto had been won... my parents were both in the syndicate. There was no mention of leaving college'

Panto dame Fionula Linehan: When I was younger I’d gone to theatre, watched it, loved it

Sarah Maria Griffin — The last thing you want is to be a medical mystery when you’re 30 weeks pregnant

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

Julia Kelly: A two-week stay at Annaghmakerrig led to becoming a writer and mother

S 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: 'Grief is as physical as it is emotional'

S What a Difference a Day Makes: From widows' groups online to lockdown love-affair

What a Difference a Day Makes: 'I was prepared to end it all — my dog is the reason I'm here today'

S What a Difference a Day Makes: How a childhood injury stayed with me for a lifetime

What a Difference a Day Makes: ‘A wheel came off his chair — if we didn’t laugh, we’d cry’

What a Difference a Day Makes: Rapper GodKnows on 'giving back to God'

S 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: ‘One minute you’re not a mom. The next you are. I was ready’

S What a Difference a Day Makes: 'Dad’s death turned my world upside down'

What A Difference A Day Makes: Taliban battle made me realise what matters in life

S What a Difference a Day Makes with Paula Fagan: 'The marriage referendum was healing'

What a Difference a Day Makes: ‘I asked for one more chance; to survive, to be well, and I got it’

S What a Difference a Day Makes: 'The war was going on, but 90% of people were interested in peace'

S 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: A honeymoon resort, and I was there on my own!

S What a Difference a Day Makes: Selling my business to prioritise my young son after an ADHD diagnosis

S What a Difference a Day Makes: Rapper Raphael Olympio on the man who changed everything

What a Difference a Day Makes: How Carol Drinkwater found her 'house by the sea'

S What A Difference A Day Makes: ‘My Austrian piano teacher connected me directly to Liszt’

S What A Difference A Day Makes: Ernest Cantillon on opening Electric at 27 — and why closing it broke his heart

S What A Difference A Day Makes: Lorraine Desmond on raising children with CFC

S Fiona Gratzer: A chance encounter on an island off Malaysia changed the trajectory of my life

S What A Difference A Day Makes: 'I felt a really strong presence of my dad before I went on stage'

S What A Difference A Day Makes: I was pregnant when I found out I was BRCA positive

Latest

Lifestyle

Outdoor Trails