Latest news with #BernardDunne
Irish Times
21-05-2025
- Sport
- Irish Times
Bernard Dunne breaking down the barriers of guarded sportspeople with new radio show
Bernard Dunne, the former WBA super bantamweight world champion and Irish Olympic boxing team coach knows all about success, failure and moments that can change the course of lives. Now he is learning something new, as pads in the gym have been put aside for pens in the garden. His pivot from the boxing world to writing has taken him to broadcasting and a Sunday evening slot on RTÉ Radio 1 where Dunne Talking explores the stories around success in sports men and women. Two revealing conversations with double Olympic gold medallist Kellie Harrington and footballer Niall Quinn have been aired with six more to follow in the current series taking in Dublin footballer James McCarthy, Mary O'Connor, Jack Woolley , Sonia O'Sullivan , Ellen Keane and Jim Bolger. READ MORE 'That whole transition piece. I've seen what that looks like, trying to refind yourself, figure out who you are as a person. That's a huge challenge,' says Dunne. 'Most of these people, they've pushed their bodies not just physically but mentally as well right to the edge where most people won't go. It's trying to find out what those hidden ingredients are, when you are under that pressure, when you need real resilience, when you need to stay focused on something, what was it that got these people to do it.' On that subject Dunne has a considerable advantage over most. His thrilling win over Ricardo Cordoba, that would win ESPN's Fight of the Year in 2009, was entirely about mental and physical integrity. In a relentlessly brutal fight, Dunne hauled himself off the canvas twice before winning the title in an 11th round knock-out. In one moment, he moved from world title contender facing bloody defeat to world champion. 'I'd a whole out of body experience in that fight,' he says. 'What happened was basically a two-second moment for me was a 25-minute conversation with myself around what the future looked like and what was I going to accept here. 'People are going to say well done but hard luck. Is that what you want to hear? I went through all the choices I made throughout my life, the choices that my family made to allow me to do what I've done. Bernard Dunne knocks out Ricardo Cordoba in 2009. Photograph: James Crombie/Inpho 'I was on the fire brigade panel. I asked myself is that what you are going to be? Do you want to be a fireman instead? Is that what the next step is because if you don't get up here it is over? Your career is finished. I had a whole out of body experience at that moment in time. That got me through it. That helped me to become a world champion.' In Dunne's conversation with Quinn, the young wannabe professional finds himself in Fulham manager Malcolm McDonald's office at Craven Cottage. McDonald says to the 14-year-old Dublin kid: 'I'm a misogynist. Do you know what that is?' Quinn answers: 'No I don't know.' McDonald continues. 'I'm not a lover of men sexually. I love men's ways. I'm a man's man. That's why I'm going to give the news like a man. As long as you have a hole in your backside you will never make a footballer'. 'The Niall conversation I could have made two episodes,' says Dunne. 'We spoke for two-and-a-half hours. To think what he went through, and he still continued. The sliding door moment for Niall was the postal strike when he was in Australia for a combined rules game and the strike was on. 'He'd been offered a contract and signed for Arsenal and then the Sydney Swans manager knocked on the front door saying you haven't responded to any of our letters. Niall said I didn't get any letters. 'He said 'we sent contract offers over to you'. Niall had signed but they were trying to convince him. It turned out Jim Stynes ended up getting one of the contracts. Again, you never know what's going to happen. You are just one conversation away from getting what you want to get.' There's a natural flow to the conversations and as an athlete, Dunne knows how guarded athletes can be. But, he says, he tries to break that barrier down straight away. The conversations are about success and the honour, but also about the challenges, the hurdles that are put in the way, the resilience piece and what empowered them to face knock backs. 'We've eight commissions and we're going to build on that, but we have to see how it goes, how it resonates with people, if people enjoy it,' he says. 'The feedback seems to be positive at the moment. I'm still writing and working on ideas I have on different things. But I think there is a place for something like this.' – The third episode of 'Dunne Talking' with racehorse trainer Jim Bolger will be broadcast on RTÉ Radio 1 on Sunday at 6pm.
The Irish Sun
11-05-2025
- Sport
- The Irish Sun
RTE set for schedule shake up as world champion gets own show with iconic guests starting with two-time Olympic hero
FORMER world champion boxer Bernard Dunne will seek to answer the question "What is success?" through his own show on RTE Radio. The show - titled Dunne Talking - is an eight-part radio series on Radio 1 through which he will speak with some of Advertisement 8 Bernard Dunne will chat to Kellie Harrington for the first episode of his new show on RTE Credit: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile 8 The eight-part series will also feature conversations with Olympians Sonia O'Sullivan and Jack Woolley Credit: Sam Barnes/Sportsfile 8 Woolley represented Ireland at Tokyo 2021 and Paris 2024 Credit: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile 8 Dunne will also chat to Republic of Ireland legend Niall Quinn, right Credit: David Maher/Sportsfile The first episode - airing today - will reunite Dunne with boxing , which Paris Olympics. Describing life as a young teenager before she started boxing, Kellie tells Bernard, 'It was chaotic because I made it chaotic, you know, like just as a teenager. "Like I say, I love my city but there's a lot going on around you and to get sidetracked is very, very easy. Advertisement Read More on RTE "And it's nothing about your upbringing or anything because I have a great mother and father and three smashing brothers and I was just the wild one out of them all.' After first picking up the gloves at the age of 15, Harrington went on to forge a spectacular CV in the sport. She has won gold medals at the World Championships, European Championships , and European Games, as well as two Olympic titles. But speaking about her first fight which ended in defeat, she revealed: 'I bawled my eyes out all the way home, mainly because of my ego because I was after being bashed.' Advertisement Most read in Sport Exclusive Her journey culminated at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, when she won a lightweight gold medal by beating Beatriz Ferreira. The Dubliner did it yet again in Paris last summer - her last tournament at international level before retiring. 'It's a failure on the camogie association' - RTE GAA pundits don't sit on fence over 'no-brainer' skorts saga By beating Yang Wenlu of China in the final, Harrington became the first ever Irish boxer to win consecutive gold medals. On the difference between her Tokyo win and her Paris win, she said: 'I dedicated that to Ireland. Advertisement "This time I was dedicating it to myself, you know, because it was not easy to get there. "You get to a mountain; you get to the top of that mountain. People want to push you over the edge, you know. "But to be able to stay strong and then look up to the mountain beside it and climb that mountain next to it, it's bloody hard, you know. "It really is hard.' Advertisement Each standalone episode of Dunne Talking offers a candid conversation with elite sportspeople who have reached the pinnacle of their respective fields. It delves into the mental and emotional resilience needed to overcome adversity, the sacrifices behind the glory, and the human stories that define success. As well as harrington, the series will also feature chats with nine-time All-Ireland winner James McCarthy and seven-time All-Ireland camogie and football winner Mary O'Connor. Dunne will also speak to Irish Olympians Jack Woolley and Sonia O'Sullivan, and Advertisement 8 Dublin players Stephen Cluxton and James McCarthy, 5, celebrate after the 2023 All-Ireland final Credit: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile 8 Cork captain Mary O'Connor celebrates with the All-Ireland LGFA trophy in 2009 Credit: Brendan Moran / SPORTSFILE 8 Ellen Keane of Ireland with, from left, parents Eddie and Laura, brother Graham, Kate Murphy and partner Max Doyle after the women's S9 100m backstroke heats on day six of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games Credit: Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile 8 Jim Bolger trainer of Guaranteed after the Club Godolphin Irish EBF Maiden during Irish Oaks Day at the Curragh Racecourse in Kildare in 2018 Credit: Matt Browne/Sportsfile Advertisement
