Latest news with #RayD'ArcyShow
Extra.ie
22-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Extra.ie
Inside Ray D'Arcy's family life with wife Jenny and two kids
Ray D'Arcy has been a staple piece of RTE Radio and a welcome sound in Irish homes across the country for many years. Ray is one of Ireland's best-known and most popular radio hosts and broadcasts his lively show on RTE every weekday from 3pm to 4.30pm with an always-entertaining mix of chat, comedy and music alongside a wide range of guests. Recently, the 2FM DJ sadly lost his mother, Mary D'Arcy, after she peacefully passed away in Naas Hospital on Friday, July 18. Ray D'Arcy with his mother Mary and Dustin the Turkey celebrating 10 years of the Ray D'Arcy Show on Today FM in 2010. Pic: James Horan/Collins Photos A post on says that Mary was predeceased by her husband Ray (Snr) and 'sadly missed by her loving children Joe, Jackie, Ray, Hughie, Anne, Paul, Marianne, Claire and Joan'. While we all know the sound of his voice from his decades of service in the entertainment industry, here's a look at Ray's life away from the studio. Ray was born into a family of nine in Kildare in 1964. His father worked as a non-commission officer. Entertainment was his goal from the start, with Ray kicking-off his long DJ career in 1979 at the age of 15. He then attended Trinity College in Dublin to study psychology and graduated in 1985. Ray met his wife, Jenny Kelly, back in 2005 when they began working together on his show at Today FM and the couple kept their relationship private at first. Jenny was working at the show before Ray joined with the presenter and explained that she was there to help transition the programme from one host to another. Ray and Jenny tied the knot in 2013. Pic: Ray has previously shared that they had a platonic relationship at first, developing a romance only after becoming close friends. The RTE host revealed their relationship for the first time live on-air during a chat with Miriam O'Callaghan on her show Saturday Night with Miriam. Ray and Jenny got married in August 2013 at Tankardstown House in Slane, Co Meath. The couple have gone on to have two children, a daughter and a son. Their daughter Kate was born in November 2006, making her 18 years old today. Meanwhile, their son Tom, who is now 13, was born in June 2012. Ray has been a long-standing icon of Irish media. Pic: Kieran Harnett Ray has shared that one of the key reasons for his happy home life is that he and Jenny are first and foremost 'best friends'. He also added that the couple both gave up drinking and it brought 'calm' into their lives. Recently, Kate underwent her Leaving Cert and Ray commented on how they were supporting her through what can be a very stressful time for young students. He told the RTE Guide: 'I was talking to a guy recently and he described having somebody in Leaving Cert as playing that winter Olympic sport (curling), where you push the thing down and then everybody paves the way in front of it. 'It's like that and we're happy to do that. We're there for whatever she wants. 'I still have nightmares about my Leaving Cert all these years later. Now, I don't share that with Kate.' He also discussed what it is like for a parent to see their child enter their teenage years, after Tom turned 13. Ray added: 'Kate has been a teenager for five years, so she went off and did her own thing. And we're going to lose Tom soon now because he's hitting 13 next month. 'You can just see it – I asked him for a hug the other day on the couch and he wasn't up for it. The same evening his mother asked for a hug but she got one.' Recently, Ray lost his mother Mary after she peacefully passed away in Kildare. Ray D'Arcy with his mother Mary in 2010. Pic: James Horan/Collins Photos Speaking several years ago to the Independent, Ray spoke of how his relationship with his mother had changed over the years. He shared: 'I didn't hug my mum until six or seven years ago. 'But I hug her all the time now and tell her that I love her. I'd never have done that years ago but as you get older, especially when you have your own children, you see the world differently. 'Also when you have children, you want to keep the generations connected and you feel more of a pull home. 'You want your children to be part of this family and to know the mother that you knew.' Ray began working for RTE Raidió na Gaeltachta after graduating from Trinity College in 1985. He then joined RTE television as a presenter on Jo Maxi in 1988 and stayed at the station for 13 years. Ray D'Arcy on Blackboard Jungle many years ago. Pic: RTE During his time there he took on many different roles from working on The Den from 1990 to 1998 and presenting You're A Star. In the late 1990's, Ray moved to Today FM but eventually returned to the national broadcaster in 2014 to present The Ray D'Arcy Show. It was later announced that Jenny would join him at RTE to produce the new show, which began airing every weekday from 3pm to 4.30pm.
Extra.ie
19-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Extra.ie
Michael Flatley has his say on potential Áras bid
Michael Flatley has revealed that he's 'not ruling out' a run for the Presidency. It seems that every seven years, the Riverdance maestro and businessman is a name that comes up to run for the race to the Áras, something that never appears to materialise each time. However, Michael — who can run as he has Irish citizenship despite being born in the USA — has finally admitted that he's taking the idea somewhat seriously, saying that he's been approached by a number of people. Michael Flatley has revealed that he's 'not ruling out' a run for the Presidency. Pic: Mark Cuthbert/UK Press via Getty Images 'I've not made the decision, but I have a team of advisers that are advising me on this,' Michael told Brendan O'Connor on Saturday. 'I have a huge business to run. I have an army of dancers counting on me to make a living. I have a whiskey company, a beautiful young wife and son that I want to spend time with. 'If I thought that I could be of benefit to the Irish people and make maybe more importantly, if I thought I could be a voice of the Irish people – right now, I don't think they have a voice – not a true proper deep voice that you know that speaks their language.' Michael has said that he's been approached to go for the Presidency, but didn't confirm or deny going for the role once Michael D Higgins' term ends in November — adding that he has met foreign dignitaries as a promotion of Riverdance. Pic: David Rose/REX/Shutterstock Michael admitted that he's aware of the role being ceremonial for the most part, saying: 'It's a statesman's role, but I spent the last 30 years of my life touring the world promoting Ireland and Irish culture.' and added that he's met loads of foreign dignitaries to promote Ireland without a ceremonial role. 'I've met them all. I've met the Bushes, the Obamas, Trump, Putin, I've met the Clintons. I've met the king and queen of England. I've met the king and queen of Sweden and of Spain. I've met all those people on a more cultural front, more to promote the country. And I think maybe that's what the job of president is all about.' Michael isn't the only one who has been approached to go for the Presidency — albeit in a far more casual manner — as Imelda May revealed that she was asked to go for it by her friend, Shane MacGowan's widow Victoria Mary Clarke. Imelda May (right) also said that her friend Victoria Mary Clarke (left) approached her about running — before she immediately ruled herself out. Pic: Instagram/Imelda May. 'I had my friend Victoria Mary Clarke, she was up at my house saying 'you have to run for president,'' Imelda told Anna Geary on the Ray D'Arcy Show — but immediately ruled herself out. 'I'm not going to do it. I'm madly in love with this place and the people,' she said, before she was pressed by Anna to do so, where she joked 'Oh will you stop?' Two official candidates have been confirmed earlier this week, with Fine Gael MEP Mairead McGuinness and Independent TD Catherine Connolly officially receiving nominations, as the latter launched her campaign. Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald also refused to rule herself out of the running after initially denying that she'd go for the role, while Joe Duffy ruled himself out after the Labour Party approached him. Other names that have been floated about recently include former Republic of Ireland goalkeeper Packie Bonner, who could emerge on the ticket under the Fianna Fáil banner.
RTÉ News
18-06-2025
- Business
- RTÉ News
What we know about how winning the EuroMillions changes your life
Analysis: winning money in the lottery has an effect on who we are, how we spend our money and what we want to do with our lives By Nattavudh Powdthavee, University of Warwick Most of us have dreamt about winning big in the lottery – I know I have. This dream recently came true for a ticket-holder in Ireland, who has just won the record €250 million EuroMillions jackpot. A sudden income of €250 million would no doubt be life-changing. But what do we actually know about the effects of lottery wins on our lives? Will being a jackpot winner make us happy now, or in the future? I've spent my career researching how our happiness and wellbeing can be affected by life changes, decisions and luck – including the lottery. Here's what I've learned about how winning the lottery can potentially change people's lives. From RTÉ Six One News, the Irish Lotto jackpot has reached €19 million Winning a moderate amount of money in the lottery has an effect on who we are, how we spend our money and what we want to do with our lives. In various studies, my colleagues and I have found that winning at least €500 in the National Lottery makes people significantly more right-wing and less egalitarian, more likely to switch to private health insurance and to become self-employed. Evidence on whether winning the lottery makes you happy is somewhat mixed. Using a British sample of over 16,000 lottery winners with an average win of several thousand pounds, economists Andrew Oswald and Jonathan Gardner, and later economists Benedicte Apouey and Andrew Clark, reported large and positive effects of wealth on winners' mental health appearing two years after the win. However, a more recent study of the Dutch Postcode Lottery focusing on a larger lottery win of a median US$22,500 (€19,325) albeit with a smaller sample size of winners to the British study (223 people) found little evidence that lottery wins affected people's happiness in a statistically significant way. Winning big Most of these previous studies have looked at the effects of winning several thousand dollars in the lottery – but what about the massive winners? Until recently, we did not have many observations of big lottery winners to conduct a meaningful study of the effects. People who win more than US$100,000 (€85,855) in the lottery do not typically feature in nationally representative household surveys as there are so few of them in any randomly selected household. This also means that any previous studies that tried to estimate the psychological impacts of large lottery wins would have too small a sample size to make any statistical findings conclusive. From RTÉ Radio 1's Ray D'Arcy Show, an interview with former Lotto jackpot winner Pat Broderick who won €7 million in 2011 In an attempt to settle this issue once and for all, three economists – Erik Lindqvist, Robert Östling, and David Cesarini – have conducted one of the largest studies to date of the long term effects of big lottery wins on psychological wellbeing. With an average win of US$106,000 (€85,877) and a sample size of more than 2,500 winners in the Swedish Lottery, they found big winners' overall life satisfaction to be significantly higher than that of small winners and non-winners with similar characteristics. This persists more than five years after the win. Life satisfaction is a measure of evaluative wellbeing – the overall evaluation of how one views one's life. This is distinct from experienced wellbeing – the positive emotions that we experience day-to-day. The Swedish study found little evidence that winning a large amount of money in the lottery had any significant impact on winners' happiness, which is a measure of experienced wellbeing. They also found winning big in the lottery does not substantially improve people's current mental health. From RTÉ Archives, Gerry Reynolds reports for RTÉ News on the introduction of a new National Lottery game in 1987. Includes Bertie Ahern, Charles Haughey, Gay Byrne and others saying how they would spend the money if they won the lottery This is consistent with a study by Nobel prize-winning economists Daniel Kahneman and Angus Deaton, which showed that beyond a US$75,000 (€64,414) threshold, measures of evaluative wellbeing continue to rise with income whereas measures of experienced wellbeing, like happiness and mental health, do not. Furthermore, there was no evidence in the Swedish lottery study that a US$100,000 (€85,855) win significantly improved people's satisfaction with their health, relationship, housing, neighbourhood and society. The evidence from these studies suggests that winning the EuroMillions jackpot would significantly and sustainably improve the way we think about our finances and how our lives turn out in the long run, but it is less likely to make our day-to-day life feel more enjoyable. For most of us, our dreams of winning big in the lottery will never materialise. But just buying a ticket can give us a warm, thrilling feeling of anticipation while we wait for the lucky numbers to be drawn. Psychologists call this the "let me dream on" effect. That reason alone might be good enough for us to keep playing.
RTÉ News
10-06-2025
- General
- RTÉ News
Why do some words give us the ick?
Analysis: We may all want to be more conscious of the words and sounds we use that turn others off, particularly in work or romantic situations By Chris Fitzgerald, Mary Immaculate College How do you feel when you hear the words mucus, cyst and moist? As a palate cleanser, how about ethereal, aurora and twilight? We all have certain words or phrases that make us react in different ways. Certain words can provoke positive feelings, while others may make our skin crawl. Research in neuroscience and neurolinguistics points out that certain words may trigger parts of our brains that induce pleasurable or negative responses. The causes of these responses are varied and relate to both the sound of the words and what they refer to. From RTÉ Radio 1's Drivetime, linguist and Apple Siri language engineer Des Ryan on the most beautiful sounding names There is an area of study called phonaesthetics that deals with the beauty of sounds of words. Researchers in this area have established reasons for why some words are deemed beautiful and others elicit disgust. Euphony describes the effect of word sounds being pleasurable. A famous example of this was provided in 1955 by J.R.R. Tolkein when he suggested that cellar door is a phrase that is regarded as beautiful simply for its sound and this beauty has little to do with the meaning of the compound noun. The opposite of euphony is cacophony. This refers to sounds or combinations of sounds we may perceive as being particularly irritating or harsh. Sounds that might give English speakers this feeling, according to linguist David Crystal, are sounds such as the sl sound. Have a go at saying slick, slush and sleazy and this might resonate. From RTÉ Radio 1's Ray D'Arcy Show, David Crystal on why some words are so hard to spell Crystal did a lot of research into this area, trying to uncover what it is that makes certain words seem pleasant to us. He exposed many people to lists of words and asked them to rank them in terms of their pleasantness. His results showed that there are a range of characteristics that contribute to words that we think sound nice. He gave tremulous as an example of a word that includes many of these characteristics such as having three or more syllables and having stress on the first syllable. Naturally, writers exploit this attraction to or disgust towards words and create combinations of sounds and words that can result in pleasurable or uncomfortable reactions in their readers. The combination of sounds in the description of 'lake water lapping' in The Lake Isle of Innisfree by W.B. Yeats provides the reader with the sense of calm he depicts in his dream life by a lake. The famous opening lines of Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov are all about the pleasure of combining sounds. The sounds of character names can provide a first window into the traits of a character as the combinations of sounds and their associated meanings can make us feel comfort or make us recoil. Roald Dahl was a master of this, creating names from combinations of sounds that instantly offer a sense of their character such as Miss Trunchbull, Veruca Salt, Arthur Slugworth and Augustus Gloop. Without knowing anything else about the characters, we know just by the sounds of their names that they are not to be trusted. From RTÉ Radio 1's Today with Claire Byrne, Elaina Ryan from Books Ireland on the decision to rewrite Roald Dahl's children's books to remove language deemed offensive by the publisher Of course, it is not just the sounds of words that can give us the ick. What we associate words with can also have a bearing on how we feel them. In semantics, we can broadly describe words as having two types of meaning. There is the denotational meaning or what the word literally means; that is, the meaning provided by a dictionary definition. There is also the connotational meaning, which is how a word feels or what it makes us think about. Connotational meanings are subjective and can differ from person to person. Our experiences and preferences play a role in how we feel about words. For example, if you are confronted with the word needle and are a knitting enthusiast, this might provoke a pleasurable response. However, if you are someone who faints at the sight of needles in a clinical setting, you may find the word extremely off-putting. Childhood associations also play a part in how we feel about different words While we may all react negatively to a selection of sounds and words, some people have very real and uncontrollable negative reactions to certain sounds that might be considered normal to most. This condition has various names, but is often referred to as misophonia and can result in extreme emotional responses to sounds like jaws clicking, slurping or licking. The causes of this remain somewhat mysterious but be linked to traumatic childhood experiences linked to these sounds. Childhood associations also play a part in how we feel about different words. Just like certain smells may elicit nostalgic feelings, sounds and words can bring us back to certain times that can be comforting or traumatic. We may all want to be more conscious of the words and sounds we use that make others' skin crawl, particularly in certain professional or romantic situations because you never know how someone may react.
Sunday World
30-05-2025
- Sunday World
How Richard Satchwell's defence made last ditch attempt to get jury discharged
REVEALED | He was found guilty by a jury of murdering his wife Tina and burying her under the stairs where she lay for six and a half years. Richard Satchwell (centre) leaving the District Court in Cashel, Co Tipperary, after being charged in connection with the murder of Tina Satchwell (Brian Lawless/PA) The move was resisted by the State, who pointed out that much of the publicity was generated by Satchwell himself. In November last year Brendan Grehan SC, for Satchwell, said that as the media attention was concentrated in Cork, it would be "impossible to retain an impartial jury" there who had not heard of the case and formed "adverse views of Mr Satchwell". Mr Grehan said that most trials can be held in local venues but some generate media attention that can be "macabre" and lead to "greater hostility than it is possible to imagine in an ordinary case." Satchwell's preference, Mr Grehan said, was for the trial to be held in Limerick so it would be closer to the prison where he was being held. "He has a position of responsibility there, which enables him to be a productive prisoner," counsel told the court. Gerardine Small SC, for the Director of Public Prosecutions, opposed the change of venue, arguing that publicity around the case was national, not local. Also, she said, much of that publicity was generated by Satchwell who "sought the attention of the media" by appearing on radio and television shows. Richard Satchwell (centre) leaving the District Court in Cashel, Co Tipperary, after being charged in connection with the murder of Tina Satchwell (Brian Lawless/PA) News in 90 Seconds - May 30th Ms Small pointed to Satchwell's appearances on RTE's 'Prime Time', TV3's 'Ireland AM', the Ray D'Arcy Show and the numerous interviews he gave to journalists. She added: "It is an unusual factor that it [the media attention] can be attributed to the accused man while he was aware the body of his wife was buried where it was." Mr Justice Paul McDermott agreed to change the venue to Dublin, due to the significant risk of an unfair trial. He said: "The high degree of local coverage and engagement with the case takes it out of the ordinary". "SOMEWHAT OF A SIDE SHOW: TWEETS AND CHARGINGS" During the trial and in the absence of the jury, Mr Grehan applied to exclude Satchwell's "cryptic" reply of "Guilty or not guilty, guilty" when he was formally charged with the murder of Tina on October 13, 2023. Counsel said a second part of the application - which was "somewhat of a side show" - was connected to the fact that a member of the press - Paul Byrne, formerly of Virgin Media News - tweeted that Satchwell was going to be charged before gardai had actually done so. He said Superintendent Anne Marie Twomey had received directions from a legal officer at 7.28pm to charge Satchwell with the murder of his wife and he was formally charged at 8:07pm on October 13. Mr Grehan said Mr Byrne had tweeted at 8.03pm that "a man in his 50's had been charged with the murder of Tina Satchwell" - four minutes before his client was formally charged. Counsel said Michael O'Toole, of The Irish Daily Mirror and Irish Daily Star, had "retweeted" at 8.09pm from the handle @mickthehack that "Richard Satchwell had been charged with the murder of his wife". A number of gardai who were called to give evidence in the voir dire denied that they had contacted anyone in the media but accepted that Mr Byrne had tweeted about it several minutes in advance and that Mr O'Toole had named Satchwell as being charged two minutes after it occurred. Mr Grehan said it was "implicit" that contact was made with a number of people in the media "to enable them to do their job". Counsel also submitted that Satchwell should have been informed that he could consult with his solicitor before the charging process took place and was entitled to legal advice "at this critical juncture". "It vitiated the process and the court should not permit the fruits of the charging to be now available to the prosecution," he added. He said the defendant's solicitor Eddie Burke had left the garda station at 7.07pm that evening and didn't arrive back until 8.10pm - three minutes after the charging took place. Read more The lawyer said his client's reply after caution was more prejudicial than probative and would create difficulties in terms of how the jury could be properly directed. In reply, Ms Small said Satchwell, who was interviewed by gardai on ten separate occasions, had a "full appreciation of his entitlement not to say anything" in reply to the caution and was acutely aware of this. The defence, she said, was claiming there is an entitlement to have a solicitor present on charging and she wasn't aware of any such entitlement. She said the entitlement was to legal advice, which Satchwell had received "in abundance". She called the media tweets "completely irrelevant". In his ruling, Mr Justice McDermott said the defendant's reply was fully voluntary and found that the absence of a solicitor in the garda station had not impaired the fairness of the process. He refused to exclude the reply to charge. DIRECTION TO REMOVE MURDER CHARGE FROM INDICTMENT When the prosecution's case was at an end, Mr Grehan applied to the judge to withdraw the charge of murder against his client, submitting there was no evidence of an intention to kill or cause serious injury, which he said was "a huge lacuna" in the State's case. "It is one of the elements of the offence of murder which the prosecution have to adduce evidence of, which they have singularly failed to do," he argued. He said Assistant State Pathologist Dr Margaret Bolster couldn't give a cause of death due to a very long post mortem period and had confirmed there were no broken bones in Tina's body. He said she wasn't able to conclude anything about the state of the organs due to the lapse of time. Mr Grehan said there was an explanation available to the jury as to how death was caused in the case without the evidence of the pathologist or anthropologist and that explanation was given by his client, where Satchwell said the belt of Tina's bathrobe had been held up against her neck until she collapsed. Counsel said this was the only account available as to what happened to Tina and was of "immense importance" as there was no evidence of violence discovered in the post mortem. Counsel said it was significant that Tina's hyoid bone was un-fractured. He said there was also no medical evidence to say that his client's account of holding Tina off with a restraint against her neck before she collapsed suddenly was not possible. In reply, Ms Small submitted that there was "a wealth of evidence" from the surrounding circumstances in the case from which intent could be inferred. Counsel said the deception began on March 20, 2017 very shortly after Satchwell killed Tina and the plethora of lies were an acknowledgement of guilt. Ms Small said a limited post mortem examination was conducted because the defendant had buried his wife in a manner to ensure the cause of death wasn't available. She added: "There is also motive on his own account, Satchwell says she is threatening to leave him. She has wasted 28 years of her life, that is all part of the evidence for the jury to accept or not". Mr Grehan said the lies told were not sufficient to show intent for murder. Referring to motive, he said there was also clearly a basis for which Tina might have wanted nothing further to do with her husband and attacked him in that manner. In his ruling, Mr Justice McDermott said Satchwell's immediate response was to create a false impression that Tina was alive and he had taken every conceivable step to protect himself. He said Satchwell told lie after lie "to any journalist who'd indulge him" and portrayed a scenario that his wife had deserted him suddenly without any explanation. Mr Justice McDermott said Satchwell had shown a degree of malevolence towards his wife and the defendant was totally focused on protecting himself from discovery. There had been, he said, a period of six prolonged years before Tina's body, of which Satchwell had disposed of, was found and this was relevant to the issue of intention. He said it was a matter for the jury as to whether Satchwell had formed the requisite intent and whether he was guilty of his wife's murder. He rejected the application to withdraw the murder charge. APPLICATION TO DISCHARGE THE JURY At the very end of the trial, when Mr Justice McDermott had finished charging the jurors, Mr Grehan said on foot of instructions from his client he "regrettably" had to seek the discharge of the jury Counsel voiced his opposition to the tone of the charge, which he said was intended to "nudge" the jurors towards a guilty verdict. Counsel said he became increasingly concerned as the charge proceeded that it was not resembling a charge but a "second prosecution speech" in terms of the emphasis the court was placing on the State's case to the detriment of the defence. Mr Grehan told the judge he had not put the defence case in full at all to the jury. He said the two separate tasks of directions on the law and a summary of the evidence had become "intermingled" and submitted there was no balance in what had been said to the panel. "The whole emphasis of what was said to the court seemed to be to reiterate the prosecution case," he argued. Mr Grehan said the facts of the case "shouted and screamed for themselves" in terms of what Satchwell did and didn't do. "They are not facts that need to be nudged or pushed for the jury in any particular way". Counsel said it was beyond remedy at this stage and the court should discharge the jury. Ms Small called Mr Grehan's application "wholly inappropriate", describing the charge as balanced, fair and extremely comprehensible. "The criticism is unfounded, a court will rarely outline all the evidence, that is a matter for the jury". In his ruling, the judge said this was a difficult case in which to sum up the evidence for the jury and he didn't accept that his charge was "so wildly unbalanced". He disagreed that the absence of references to certain parts of the evidence in any sense justified the jury being discharged. Mr Justice McDermott refused the application but did give the jury further directions in relation to two matters of which complaints were made, one relating to the detailed evidence of Lorraine Howard concerning her half sister Tina, the other to evidence that Satchwell loved or was "besotted" with his wife.
