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I Love Limerick Chronicle Column
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Last Thursday Mayor Kieran O’Hanlon honoured me with a Mayoral Reception at City Hall with friends and family present as recognition for my work with I Love Limerick. In attendance, Limerick Person of the Year Luke Culhane, style queen Celia Holman Lee, fitness guru Leanne Moore, Senator Maria Byrne, singer Emma Langford, actor Myles Breen, blogger Sharon Tucker, community activist Helen O’Donnell and representatives from various charities and communities.
I was very honoured to be recognised by the city as this city is not only my birthplace, but I could never ever imagine living anywhere else. It’s my home and my life. I have been doing I Love Limerick for 9 years and I can’t believe it will be a decade next summer!
I have been involved every year in the Limerick Pride Festival since 2008. In 2008, I produced Limerick Pride and made the event a weeklong festival. I wanted it to be integrative and inclusive so I called it I Love Limerick. The theme of that year’s Pride was of Limerick people loving one another and loving our city. When you logged onto ilovelimerick.com it actually took you to LimerickPride.ie. That was the birth of I Love Limerick.
Pictured here with Limerick Person of the Year Luke Culhane who made the Cyberbullying video ‘Create No Hate’ which went viral worldwide. Picture: Dermot Culhane.
It developed into a community website dedicated to reporting and promoting positive news about Limerick people, communities, charities and events. I Love Limerick was set up to help people, to give people a platform that normally wouldn’t have one. I started the project in an effort to counteract the negative press Limerick was getting in the national media at the time; little did I know the adventure I was undertaking. I have been so blessed to meet so many incredible people, to work with so much talent and to given the chance to make a difference and do something positive.
Highlights of the last nine years include interviewing my idol Terry Wogan, doing the last interview ever with the last living Knight of Glin, winning Limerick Person of the Year in 2011 and being part of the success of the many charities and community groups that I do voluntary PR for.
Money and fame don’t motivate me. If they did I would be living in Dublin or I would be still in New York where I lived for over 15 years. The most important thing for me is my family and I could not imagine being apart from them. My parents passed away in the last years and I used to care for them full time. Now I live in a house with my partner Hugo, between my brother and sister homes and all their children and it’s heaven! It’s just what my parents wanted, for us to all be together. The highlight for the Mayoral Reception was that my eight year old niece Lucy and my six year old nephew Ryan were there as it’s something they will remember always.
My thanks to Mayor Kieran O’Hanlon who is so very kind to me and who said, “When I first spoke to Richard, I knew what he was doing for Limerick and that made me happy as Richard does a lot of work for a lot of communities in Limerick and he only puts out positive news because he love’s Limerick and we all love Limerick.”
Picture: Cian Reinhardt/ilovelimerick
I intend to keep working hard. The emotional payback from the work is immeasurable. I don’t care about money. I know I need it to survive so I am doing my best to make a living and also continue volunteering with I Love Limerick. Fortunately, loyal fantastic talent surrounds me since the beginning such as Dolf Patijn, Orla Clancy and Jonathan Baynes. My right arm for the last 4 years has been my videographer, Aisling O’Connor. I am so grateful to everyone who works with us, as you are only as good as the people you work with.
I do love Limerick. It’s been so good to me and the people inspire me every day. All the hard work has been worth it and I would do it all over again. Limerick is really about the people who make up this great city and county. I am Limerick, You are Limerick, We are Limerick. Thank you Limerick, I Love you. Richard x
Siobhán Wilmot, Mental Health Welfare Officer Limerick Youth Service, Richard lynch, ilovelimerick, Jen Ronan, jenronan.com Bobbi-Marie O’Callaghan, LYS, Andy Yu, LYS, Dr Eddie Murphy, Clinical Psychologist and Adam Coleman, thisboyknows.com. Picture: Cian Reinhardt/ilovelimerick
Running from Monday, October 31 to Sunday, November 6, Be Well Limerick Week is a youth-led mental health initiative that promoted positive mental health and well-being organized by the Limerick Youth Service. The week aimed to equip young people with a mental health and well-being first aid kit, tackling the stigma sometimes associated with mental health and promote a help-seeking culture. A talk with a leading mental health expert and a number of interactive and diverse workshops were just part of the busy programme.
This past Friday evening saw a variety of speakers at the Savoy Hotel share their personal experiences with mental health issues. Titled Pathway to Recovery, the evening included contributions from young people who addressed the crowd with tips on how to cope with mental health struggles.
Guest speakers included Richard Lynch of I Love Limerick, Operation Transformations’ Eddie Murphy, Jen Ronan, mental health advocate and blogger and Limerick Youth Services volunteers Bobbi-Marie O’Callaghan and Andy Yu.
Richard shared his own mental health journey at the event on Friday evening, speaking candidly of his time in New York, dealing with addiction and the emotional turmoil that results. Richard talked about using wild nights out as a form of escapism to escape the inner pain he was feeling, saying he has learned that, “if you’re partying to make yourself feel better, you shouldn’t be partying at all.”
Andy Yu, a volunteer from Limerick Youth Services gave tips on battling mental health problems commenting, “talking is your greatest weapon, your voice is meant to be heard.” The inspiring Jen Ronan spoke about her journey saying, “If you have a dip in your mental health, it’s not a bump, it’s not a detour – it’s part of the path”.
Limerick Youth Service remains committed to supporting and encouraging young people to be active participants in shaping their futures.
For more information on Limerick Youth Services, click here.
To read more about LYS, click here.
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Photos: Cian Reinhardt / ilovelimerick
Pippa O Connor book signing meet and greet happened on Saturday, October 15 at O’Mahony’s Book Shop for her Pippa, Simple Tips to Live Beautifully Book Tour.
People traveled up to five hours to meet Pippa and get their book signed and a picture. The audience ranged from young, enthusiastic bloggers to working mothers who enjoyed Pippa’s tips and tricks in her book.
The Pippa O Connor Book, Simple Tips to Live Beautifully, Pippa shares her secrets for looking good, living well and feeling great. Stuffed with practical tips and inspirational advice, Simple Tips to Live Beautifully is a book for everyone, aged 16 or 60, who wants to discover their own personal style and to build the confidence to celebrate it.
Before her signing, Pippa spoke with Richard Lynch about her book, blog and new denim line ‘Poco by Pippa’ which was released that morning.
“The book is a reflection of pippa.ie and I was getting a lot of messages all the time asking the same kind of questions. What’s appropriate to wear to a wedding? How do I dress for an interview? How do I make my living room really chic looking on a budget? I just thought, ‘I’m going to put all of this into a beautiful book’.” said Pippa O Connor, “With a book like mine you want the tips to be practical and things you can actually do and achieve yourself whether it’s how to do the winged eyeliner or how to get ready in ten minutes.”
Pippa O Connor’s website, pippa.ie, has grown enormously since it started four years ago and has gained a substantial audience. Pippa admits that it all began as a hobby while she was pregnant with her first son Olly and just grew bigger over time.
When asked about how to juggle between having a career and being a mother Pippa said “I think when you’re doing something that you love, you don’t mind getting up earlier in the morning and going to bed later at night. I’m just thriving on everything I’m doing because I’m so passionate about it but I suppose my one bit of advice is to try and get a bit of balance.”
Poco by Pippa, Pippa O Connor’s new denim range was released on Saturday morning and gained huge excitement from all of her fans. “People are really excited about it which makes me so excited! I’ve been thinking about this myself and with my team for a long time now so to finally have it out there is like a big relief off my shoulders. It consists of five styles of denim, something for every woman. We’ll start off with there and who knows what will happen in the future!”
To purchase Pippa O Connor book Simple Tips to Live Beautifully click here.
Check out Pippa’s website here.
Follow Pippa’s latest news on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
For more of the latest books from I Love Limerick click here.
To watch the Pippa O Connor book signing interview with Richard Lynch click the video below!
They queued for four hours in advance to meet the man who is without a doubt a true Limerick legend.
Coinciding with the release of his much-anticipated autobiography, Paul O’Connell signed copies of his book, The Battle, in O’Mahony’s Bookshop .
Over 500 people queued for hours to meet former rugby legend Paul O’Connell at his book signing in Limerick city this past Sunday, eager to get a signed copy of his book The Battle.
The book signing was due to begin at 2pm, however after The Battle author observed images of the lengthy queues on I Love Limerick’s social media, he arrived early so as not to disappoint fans on his home ground in the Treaty City.
Paul O Connell book signing at O’Mahony’s Bookshop. Picture: Cian Reinhardt/ilovelimerick
Even before he was due to meet his legions of fans, he had planned to sign more than 200 copies of The Battle, which were pre-ordered by customers who couldn’t attend the signing.
The Battle was co-written with Alan English, former editor of the Limerick Leader and current editorial director of Iconic Newspapers, which own the Leader. He also attended the signing along with many family members.
I had the honour of interviewing Paul at the book signing. With typical modesty, when asked how he felt about the phenomenal turnout, he joked that the book might be an easy Christmas present for people, as many queued to purchase several books for friends and family members.
The former Munster, Ireland and Lion’s captain described The Battle as “the full story. I think it’s very honest and I hope people will enjoy it,” he said.
I asked him what exactly was ‘The Battle’ he faced, he revealed, “the battle was mainly with myself, the injuries, playing high-pressure games, trying to win things, trying to be successful,” and told me, “blaming myself when we lost a game made me better.”
I asked him how it felt to be so loved by the people of Limerick, “I am very proud of my Limerick roots. I love living here, the sense of humour the people have, what a great place to live.”
I admire Paul so much, not just for his sporting achievements, but for his soul. Paul is a man who is truly proud of our beautiful city as he has said himself on numerous occasions and proved undoubtedly over the years through his involvement with positive campaigns and charity work. Congrats Paul. All of Limerick are rooting for you!
You can find out more about the Paul O Connell book, ‘The Battle’, here.
Here you can read more stories about Paul O Connell.