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>Author Julia Kelly at her home in Dun Laoghaire, Dublin. Picture: Gareth Chaney.</p>

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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

<p>Eamonn Keaveney: "Walking every day I’ve a lot of time to think. Reflections on the nature of people mainly. No matter where I go, what country, people have been very helpful, offering me food, water, lifts I had to refuse."</p>

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What a Difference a Day Makes: Eamonn Keaveney — It’s the trip of a lifetime, just with sore feet

<p>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.</p>

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What a Difference a Day Makes: 'Grief is as physical as it is emotional'

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

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

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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’

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

S What A Difference A Day Makes: Georgie Durcan on falling pregnant after fertility treatment

Motivational speaker Georgie Durcan underwent years of fertility treatment. She tells Helen O’Callaghan how her nine-year-old twins remind her everyday of what’s possible if you keep believing

Thu, 24 Apr, 2025

S What A Difference A Day Makes: Author Amy Jordan on the book changed her perspective

After dropping out of First Arts, a decision that hugely disappointed and shocked her parents, two impactful events happened in author Amy Jordan’s life. A chance encounter on a bus sparked a determination to forge a new path – and reading a book she calls transformative helped her re-frame past mistakes.

Thu, 17 Apr, 2025

S Diarmuid Gavin: 'It all culminated when the repo man came to take my stereo system'

In the early ‘90s, Diarmuid Gavin was 26 and on a “downward spiral” that saw him reach rock-bottom. The renowned garden designer and Chelsea Flower Show winner tells Helen O’Callaghan about the weekend when everything came to a head – and about a resolve he made in those 24 hours that was the first step to his subsequent success.

Fri, 11 Apr, 2025

S What A Difference A Day Makes: Eavanna Breen on discovering pre-cancerous cells in her breast

Eavanna Breen tells Helen O’Callaghan about discovering she had pre-cancerous cells in her breast, about the impact of this, particularly as her mum had died from breast cancer – and how the whole experience has been a “tap on the shoulder”, reminding her of what’s important in life

Fri, 28 Mar, 2025

S What A Difference A Day Makes: Aaron McCormack on a call from home while abroad

Aaron McCormack recalls his cousin, Edward, as like an older brother. The chair of Cycle Against Suicide tells Helen O’Callaghan about the impact on him of Edward’s suicide – and about an organisation that helps people bring something positive out of a very tragic event in their life.

Fri, 21 Mar, 2025

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WHAT A DIFFERENCE A DAY MAKES

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

What a Difference a Day Makes: Eamonn Keaveney — It’s the trip of a lifetime, just with sore feet

What a Difference a Day Makes: 'Grief is as physical as it is emotional'

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'

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

S What A Difference A Day Makes: Georgie Durcan on falling pregnant after fertility treatment

S What A Difference A Day Makes: Author Amy Jordan on the book changed her perspective

S Diarmuid Gavin: 'It all culminated when the repo man came to take my stereo system'

S What A Difference A Day Makes: Eavanna Breen on discovering pre-cancerous cells in her breast

S What A Difference A Day Makes: Aaron McCormack on a call from home while abroad

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