
‘I wear the same shoes and clothes all the time, which means I don't shop often'
Paddy Power Comedy Festival
, which runs from Thursday, July 24th until Sunday, July 27th, at Iveagh Gardens, Dublin.
Are you a saver or a spender?
I
spend money
, but I spend it on good stuff – things like travel or fancy appliances. I'm at a stage of my life where a double-stack air fryer is the party.
What was the first job you received money for, and how much were you paid?
READ MORE
My first job was in a popcorn van at the 'merries', which was what Piper's Funfair in Crosshaven used to be known as because of all the merry-go-rounds.
I was paid a tenner for the whole day. That doesn't sound like a good deal but you get to go on all the rides and have unlimited popcorn, so it was definitely a win.
[
Niamh Kavanagh: 'Thanks to my mum, I learned how to pay my bills before I spent money on myself'
Opens in new window
]
Do you shop around for better value?
Not really, to be honest. I should, but I'm wrecked the majority of the time. I will shop around for better fruit and vegetables, and if I can, I always get organic.
What has been your most extravagant purchase and how much did it cost?
I went on a safari last year and it cost about €2,000. I got to see a baby elephant, so I have no regrets. I would have spent double for the experience.
What purchase have you made that you consider the best value for money?
The double-stack Ninja Air Fryer. I can't explain the handiness.
Is there anything you regret spending money on?
I bought a pair of trendy green runners to wear for my appearance on the Tommy Tiernan Show a few months ago. I have, literally, never worn them again. Notions.
Do you haggle over prices?
No, I would be mortified.
Do you invest in shares and/or cryptocurrency?
I don't invest in crypto, I'd rather just play a scratch card. I wouldn't mind investing in shares if it were something I believed in, like sustainable energy, but I wouldn't have a clue where to begin.
Do you have a retirement or pension plan?
No, I don't. You only live once.
What was the last thing you bought, and was it good value for money?
I spent €2.50 going into Dingle's Fairy Fort, which also has an animal pet farm. I got to pet some lambs, and it was worth every cent. Fairies and lambs – what more do you want?
[
'Behavioural economists would have a field day with me'
Opens in new window
]
Have you ever successfully saved up for a relatively big purchase?
Yes, I can save well if I have a goal. I love travelling and last year I saved up for a road trip to South Africa. Took about eight months to save up for the flights and all of the experiences, but it was beyond worth it.
Have you ever lost money?
Nah, sure it's all on my phone now and, touch wood, I haven't lost my phone yet.
Are you a gambler and, if so, have you ever had a big win?
I love scratch cards, but that's as far as it goes. I have won a few quid on the horses, but nothing worth chatting about.
What is your best habit when it comes to money? And your worst?
My best habit is that I wear the same shoes and clothes all the time, which means I don't shop too often. My worst habit is either ordering takeaway food or eating out. Literally, thousands, I'd say.
How much money do you have on you now?
I don't carry cash. Coins are manky and smelly. Everything is on the phone now.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Irish Times
an hour ago
- Irish Times
Paudie Clifford covers every blade of the pitch – and doesn't hold back in post-match chat
The changes in Gaelic football this season didn't only come with the new rules, or innovations, at play. For those watching on television, the diamond-patterned turf in Croke Park proved a distraction that took a bit of getting used to, although Joanne Cantwell on RTÉ One assured us the view from up high was quite different from that which the players would encounter at field level. Still, for those of us sitting on our sofas, not expecting an episode of Landscape Artist of the Year, it took a bit of getting used to, and that was only in the parade when Donegal for some reason decided enough was enough of marching behind the Artane Boys Band and took themselves away from the formalities of it all. Darragh Maloney referred to Donegal's abrupt departure from the parade as part of the 'mind games' in the psychological warfare that goes on between teams at All-Ireland finals. Kerry , though, stuck to the old ways and stayed true to tradition in marching behind the band until the death. READ MORE 'There's greatness in their DNA,' Sarah Mulkerrins over on BBC 2 Northern Ireland had told us upon Kerry's arrival on to the pitch ahead of the parade, while the Beeb's match commentator Thomas Niblock in his build-up essay had talked of how the players from Donegal and Kerry came from counties where football 'isn't just played, it's inherited'. Both RTÉ and BBC have evolved their prematch coverage of All-Irelands and their use of a corner of the now diamond-patterned pitch near the Nally Stand had Joanne and Sarah as their respective main presenters, each knowledgeable and bringing a mix of pertinent questions of their punditry teams with a little humour too for a match where there was a common consensus that the new rules had, as Philly McMahon put it, 'reinvigorated everybody'. Kerry's David Clifford and Brendan McCole of Donegal in action in the All-Ireland football final. Photograph: Bryan Keane/Inpho In the build-up to the game, the BBC cameras brought us high into the premium seats where a number of award-winning actors – among them Douglas Henshall, Martin Compston and Chaneil Kular, who are all starring in The Revenge Club, a new thriller being filmed on locations in Ireland – were among the station's guests. 'I cannot believe I've missed [Gaelic football] my whole life,' remarked Henshall (of Shetland fame) with Compston (you know him from Line of Duty) marvelling at the lack of segregation among the supporters, which he described as 'mind-blowing'. The RTÉ lads, meanwhile, were hardly building us up for a game of the century or anything like that, with Peter Canavan being 'sceptical about a free-flowing game', while Tomás Ó Sé added: 'I don't think it's going to be a classic.' [ Kerry player ratings: The Clifford brothers star as Kingdom lift Sam Maguire Opens in new window ] So much for all of us with our popcorn and cups of tea settling in for a game where we wanted free-flowing football and drama, and hoping someone somewhere had a bit of revenge to add to the mix. By half-time in a game of, yep, free-flowing football dominated by Kerry, the BBC's Niblock seemed to tip his cap to what he'd seen from Kerry and especially to Kerry's chosen one. 'What do you say about genius?' he asked of DC, although the same could have been said about Paudie – whose energy levels should be harnessed for the national grid – and others as the game seemed all but done for. Former Dublin manager Jim Gavin working for RTÉ in Croke Park: 'Half-time is only a break in play, I think this is far from over.' Photograph: Morgan Treacy Hold your horses, or something like that, seemed to be the message coming from pitchside down below where none other than former Dublin manager Jim Gavin – the head of the Football Review Committee – had joined the BBC analysts. 'Half-time is only a break in play, I think this is far from over,' said Gavin. Jim was right until he was wrong. Donegal's fightback seemed to briefly hold out the prospect for a comeback akin to Tipperary's against Cork in the hurling but that never happened, and Kerry did what Kerry usually do when the Sam Maguire is within touching distance. [ How Tipperary capitalised on Cork's chronic lack of flexibility to take All-Ireland title Opens in new window ] 'It's amazing to see Kerry so excited about winning an All-Ireland,' remarked Mickey Harte on the Beeb, to which Niblock responded by observing – after so many pundits had foreseen a Donegal win – of Kerry that, 'the hurt, the anger, whether it is manufactured, a team can feed off it.' Indeed, over on RTÉ, Damian Lawlor had done what no Donegal defender had managed and only gone and nabbed Paudie Clifford, who seemed more charged up than he had been in his terrific performance throughout where he seemed to cover every blade of the diamond-patterned turf. Paudie didn't mince his words either in his chat with Lawlor. 'We did feel disrespected, being called a one-man team,' he said, with all the assurance of a big brother who knew the bigger picture. It's in their DNA, for sure.


Irish Times
2 hours ago
- Irish Times
Late Shift star Leonie Benesch: ‘The biggest shock was realising how broken health systems are globally'
Leonie Benesch is accustomed to moving between countries, languages, and worlds – both fictional and actual. Almost two decades into her career, she finds herself among the same rarefied multilingual elite as Christoph Waltz, Nina Hoss and Diane Kruger: German -speaking actors who shift effortlessly between Hollywood and Europe . She is also the most famous German redhead since Boris Becker. Fellow freckled actor Jessica Chastain has often spoken about her pigmentation landing her 'old-fashioned' or period roles. Benesch knows just how that feels. 'I don't know if it's my face or my hair, but people love to put me in period stuff,' Benesch says. 'People always say: 'Oh, your face looks like it could be from anywhere.' I've been very happy over the last two years. I'm actually getting roles that are set in modern times.' Having toured the awards circuit with the Oscar-nominated September 5 – a fine drama about the Black September attacks on the 1972 Olympics – earlier this year, she has returned to her home continent for the taut medical thriller, Late Shift. READ MORE In Petra Volpe's film, Benesch, also so good in the recent The Teachers' Lounge , plays Floria, a devoted surgical nurse in Switzerland, powering through a demanding night shift in an understaffed ward. Her 26 patients range from an elderly man fearfully awaiting a diagnosis to a well-heeled private patient demanding herbal tea. Closing credits warn viewers about the worsening global staffing crisis in the profession. 'I've always been slightly hesitant about that sort of campaigning behind a film,' admits Benesch, 'I'm always a little suspicious when someone has a message they wanted to get across. Having said that, I also really appreciate it when it's done well. Petra Volpe wanted to shine a light on what it means to be a nurse in an underfunded health system. She's been very open about it. I'm actually quite grateful because she opened my eyes to making those sorts of films now.' Volpe's gripping drama required a considerable amount of homework for Benesch, an actor who is frequently praised for her technical precision. Before production began, she shadowed nurses in Zurich throughout their demanding shifts. 'We filmed in January, after a long period of work in Belgium and Vienna,' she says. 'When I arrived in Zurich, I was quite tired, which actually made sense because that's often the mental and physical state of healthcare workers. I focused a lot on the physical aspects – learning the choreography of preparing medications, putting in IVs, moving the blood pressure wagon, the computer systems, all the small details. 'But I underestimated how emotionally exhausting it would be. I found myself having quite a few big cries after filming because, even though it's fiction, the experience was very real. I usually don't take work home emotionally, but this time I did.' To prepare, she shadowed Swiss nurses for a week, observing every gesture, every measured step. 'I did five shifts. Obviously, I was not allowed to do anything other than make tea, but that was absolutely invaluable. It was quite a stark contrast, going from doing press in LA and the Oscars and that whole game to then being in a hospital shadowing nurses. It was brilliant for me. I was especially interested in their movements and the way they switch codes – how they speak distantly, yet warmly, to patients, maintaining that professional facade. It was fascinating.' What she learned there was not only useful, but political: the fragility of healthcare systems, even in wealthy European nations. 'The biggest shock was realising how broken health systems are globally. I shadowed nurses in Switzerland – one of the richest countries – and it was still tough,' Benesch says. 'I lived in the UK for eight years, so I know about the NHS struggles, but it's the same everywhere. It's incredible cognitive dissonance when people applaud nurses, but political systems won't fight for better wages or working conditions.' The gendered dimension of the labour was equally thought-provoking. 'Nursing is to this day a woman's job,' says the actor. 'Eighty per cent of people in this profession are women. Of course, they are overlooked, underpaid and underappreciated. But it's just so stupid. I feel like it blows my mind because we all rely on this. The first, and usually the last, person to talk to us, to touch our body on this earth, is usually a nurse.' [ Falling nursing applications may make it 'impossible' to fill places in Ireland, OECD warns Opens in new window ] Benesch grew up mostly in Tübingen, a German city southwest of Stuttgart. An early fascination with Keira Knightley in Pirates of the Caribbean led her to pursue acting with determination. 'When I wanted to become an actor around 11 or 12, I had moved a lot and felt like an outsider – maybe because of my red hair and being different,' she recalls. 'You pick up quite quickly as a kid, if you move around a lot, the horror of having to leave a place that is familiar. But at the same time, there is the excitement of being able to really invent yourself a little bit in a new place. 'I had a strong desire to be seen and admired. Acting felt like a way to be noticed. Over time, my motivation shifted. Now, after 17 years in the profession, I value storytelling for its power to contribute to societal discussions. Of course, there's still a lot of fun and entertainment in it, but that's the core of why I do this.' She performed in a children's circus before moving on to the prestigious Ernst Busch Academy of Dramatic Arts in Berlin, and later, three years at London's Guildhall School of Music and Drama. She had yet to graduate when she landed the role of Greta Overbeck on Tom Tykwer's popular Weimar-era crime drama, Babylon Berlin – replete with a hefty arc about radicalisation and class struggle. 'There were little protests on set when they killed me off at the end of season three,' she laughs. 'People held up signs. 'Let her live!' I was very happy about that.' As her cut-glass English pronunciation indicates, she remained in the UK for a time, appearing in The Crown as Princess Cecilie of Greece and Denmark, sister to Prince Philip, and – alongside David Tennant's Phileas Fogg – as the intrepid Abigail in the BBC miniseries Around the World in 80 Days. She credits BBC Radio 4 for helping her to perfect her received pronunciation. 'I left Guildhall a few months early for Babylon Berlin,' she says. 'I stayed in London for about five more years because I loved it and wanted to be around for potential auditions. But after Around the World in 80 Days and Covid hit, I spent six months in Berlin and realised how much I loved it here: it's cheaper, and many friends are here. The combination of Brexit and Covid made me decide to settle in Berlin for now. But who knows what the future holds?' Leonie Benesch: 'Eighty per cent of people in [nursing] are women. Of course, they are overlooked, underpaid and underappreciated' Benesch was 17 years old when Michael Haneke cast her in the Palme d'Or-winning The White Ribbon . Critics immediately took note and credited her performance as bringing something 'gentler and more endearing than anything Haneke has ever shown before'. 'Starting with something so high-profile is a blessing and a challenge,' she says. 'I remember [costar] Susanne Lothar – may she rest in peace – saying: 'Don't get used to this; most sets aren't like this.' I thought that was the norm at first: working with Michael Haneke, going to set, having all the time in the world to prepare. I thought: 'Why are we not at the Oscars with every project?' So it was quite a brutal wake-up. It set the bar high, which keeps me motivated. But I think I'm doing okay.' The international success of The Teachers' Lounge, İlker Çatak's nervy thriller about a dedicated teacher whose attempt to resolve a theft at her school spirals into a tense moral crisis, was a pleasant and game-changing surprise. The film failed to find a distributor for almost a year after it was completed, but it went on to get a nomination for best international feature at the 2024 Oscars. [ The Teachers' Lounge review: Leonie Benesch is sensational in this unlikely white-knuckle thriller Opens in new window ] 'I think it was at Berlinale, I realised that this film was big,' she says, remembering its buzzy debut at the Berlin Film Festival. 'That was the first time there was an opportunity for word of mouth and people going to screenings together. We were suddenly sold out. I remember my agent saying: Brazil loves your film. And we did not expect any of that.' Night Shift is in cinemas from August 1st


Irish Daily Mirror
9 hours ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
We stormed Cheltenham last March napping 28/1 winner Wonderwall, now for Galway
Let's aim for Festival lift-off with I'm A Rocket Man at Galway in the last race this evening, writes Derek & The Pacemakers. The Stephen Casey trained six-year old's last run saw him finish third over this distance at Punchestown on June 7. But the suspicion is that he came across two 'hot ones' in the Willie Mullins trained Davy Crockett and French-bred Maskarvel. Davy Crockett was available at 11/10 in the morning but went off at 1/2, suggesting the word was out; Maskarvel was backed from 20/1 to 9/1. The I'm a Rocket Man song ain't half bad either, whether it's the 1972 original from Elton John which was ranked No. 149 in the 2021 list of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time Or the John/Dua Lipa 2021 UK chart topping collaboration Cold Heart - no2 in Ireland, no7 in the US - which samples "Rocket Man" for its chorus. 'And I think it's gonna be a long, long time.'Til touchdown brings me 'round again to find, I'm not the man they think I am at home Oh, no, no, no, I'm a rocket man, rocket man, Burning out his fuse up here alone…'. I'm a Rocket Man will have Ireland's top amateur Derek O'Connor on board, easily the most experienced rider in the race. We stormed Cheltenham last time out, got the gold bricks in place napping 28/1 winner Wonderwall So commencing countdown, engines on for Galway, drum roll please - I'm a Rocket Man each way! Get the latest sports headlines straight to your inbox by signing up for free email alerts.