Meath couple take on walking challenge from Letterkenny to the green fields of Enfield in aid of Muscular Dystrophy Ireland
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Independent
05-08-2025
- Irish Independent
Meath couple take on walking challenge from Letterkenny to the green fields of Enfield in aid of Muscular Dystrophy Ireland
Parents Paddy and Claire Hickey are planning to walk over 200km from Letterkenny, Co. Donegal to their home town of Enfield, Co. Meath to raise awareness about the neuromuscular condition, Bethlem myopathy.
RTÉ News
03-06-2025
- RTÉ News
Christine McGuinness went 'extremely quiet' after fuss over her sexuality
Christine McGuinness has said she went "extremely quiet" and felt uncomfortable by the attention she received amid media stories about her sexuality. The TV personality and Paddy McGuinness announced in 2022 they had split after more than a decade of marriage, and earlier this year she quit Channel 4 programme Celebs Go Dating because "the attention that brings is just too soon for me". Blackpool-born McGuinness, 37, told the podcast How To Fail With Elizabeth Day that she has "struggled more because of the attention around my sexuality" rather than dating men and women. "It never mattered to me, which was why once me and my ex-husband were separated and I met people, I didn't properly date," she added. "As a teenager, I dated both men and women. My ex-husband knew. My family knew. It was never a secret for me. "It was just a part of me and it was normal, so then when I was single again … that's what I'd done, but it was made such a big fuss of in the press, I almost went back into myself. "I went extremely quiet, from feeling quite comfortable and happy and free. I almost was going backwards and I could feel myself shrinking and staying quieter because of the noise around it, it almost made me feel like, well, I must be doing something wrong because why would it be front-page news?" She explained that the attention has "happened multiple times over three years" and she has not spoken about it before because of the focus on her. She added that wants to be "able to date" and "enjoy it", before adding: "It shouldn't matter if they're male or female, it shouldn't matter what their gender is. I shouldn't really ever even have to explain in any way who I want to spend my time with. That's my business." McGuinness also said she was told "never discuss it ever", while others have urged her to "talk about it". She also said she was a "free spirit", when asked if she want to give her sexuality a description. McGuinness also said: "My experiences with women have been lovely and it's not like women are better or worse. It's simply that the connection for me is different." The former The Real Housewives of Cheshire star also spoke about "heartbreak" with one woman who she was with for two years. "We actually left it very, very mutual. It was just that she was from (Czechia) so … she just couldn't move over here and I couldn't just get her move over there, so we left and it was really sad," she also said. "It took me a while to feel comfortable to then go with a man, but the next person was of course, my ex-husband (Paddy) and I felt safe with him." However, she said she "can't bring myself to feel comfortable with another man in that kind of way". She married former Top Gear presenter Paddy in 2011 and they share daughter Felicity, and twins Leo and Penelope. All three children have autism and McGuinness confirmed Paddy continues to live with them. McGuinness has fronted Christine McGuinness: Unmasking My Autism, which was focused on her own condition, experiences raising her children, and other families seeking support. She also said she wants "someone for me" for her next relationship, adding: "I want that emotional connection where I can be open and I can talk, and I can be vulnerable and I can ask for help, but I can also have a laugh and just have a good time. "It's not like I'm trying to find a new family unit or someone to come in and be a step-parent."
Irish Independent
24-05-2025
- Irish Independent
Wicklow psychotherapist pens novel that highlights impact of mental health on men
Luke Devlin from Blessington currently works as a senior psychotherapist with One in Four Ireland, which supports adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse. His novel, The Anatomy of a Silent Scream, is written as an exploration of how mental health and trauma affects men and is told through the eyes and experiences of the chief protagonist 'Paddy Flint' as he works with some male clients, whilst trying to navigate the collapse of his own internal world. Speaking abut the novel, Luke said: 'I'm not Paddy, but I've definitely walked near some of the terrain he covers—wrestling with identity, with silence, with the weight of emotional inheritance. Growing up in Dublin, you become attuned to what's left unsaid, and I think that shaped the emotional architecture of the story. 'The most challenging aspect to writing the novel was letting Paddy get close to the truth without rushing him there. As a writer, you're tempted to resolve things quickly—but trauma isn't linear. I had to sit with discomfort, ambiguity, and delay. That was hard. But emotionally honest fiction can't be neat.' Explaining where the inspiration for the book came from, Luke shared his own experiences. 'My professional life has been dedicated to understanding and supporting men—particularly those navigating the often-unspoken terrains of trauma, addiction, suicide, and abuse, he said. 'My work spans various frontline settings, including addiction recovery, crisis intervention, and community outreach, always with the goal of meeting men where they are, not where society expects them to be. 'Through my ongoing work with One in Four Ireland, an organisation that supports adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse, I've had the profound responsibility and privilege of sitting with men who have carried their stories in silence for decades. Many have spent much of their lives trying to manage the unmanageable alone, often without language for what they've endured. Many other men have not made it to tell their stories.' He added: 'This novel is born out of that lived proximity to pain—and to resilience/ It is a fictional narrative that is deeply rooted in the truths I have witnessed time and again: that behaviour often tells the story words cannot; that vulnerability in men is too often misread or ignored; and that healing begins not with answers, but with being seen. 'This book does not aim to explain trauma away, but rather to hold space for it. To honour the men who have trusted me with their stories—and to invite readers to look closer, listen deeper, and understand what lies beneath the silence.'
