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Talk to us today about life and

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serious illness cover. For our next

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guest joining an LGBT GAA

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club or hurling team, unexpectedly

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changed his life. Mikey O'Loughlin

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says that returning to hurling

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after 17 years with the GAA

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club Nagail Eirach, helped him

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overcome a very tough and emotional

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time in his life. I spoke

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with Mikey O'Loughlin, who's showbiz editor

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with the RSVP magazine.

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I spoke with him before I came on air,

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and he told me about his experience with

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his club, Nagail Eirach. So

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Nagail Eirach is the world's

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first exclusively LGBTQ plus hurling

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team or sorry, GAA club.

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And I first heard of it back in 2021 after

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it was founded. My friend

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Ian joined the football team. And

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as a big GAA fan myself, I always said,

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as soon as they started a hurling team, I

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was going to get involved. It

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took a little while for me to get involved. The hurling team

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was set up kind of midway through 2022. The

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first competitive season started last year in 2023.

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But I got a hair transplant last January, which meant I

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couldn't wear a helmet for three months. So

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that ruled me out of playing last year.

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So I finally plucked up the courage, got

1:17

the boots in the hurly and whatnot. And

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I started playing six months ago in January,

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2024. And you say it kind

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of unexpectedly changed your life. In what way? Absolutely.

1:27

I was at a very hard

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time in the last few years,

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different personal struggles with different things

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going on in my life. And

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I was on a real low

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and I was feeling so lethargic. And I

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didn't really know how unwell I was. And

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it took a long time for me to

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realize that. And it took a small bit

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of a little bit of a breakdown to

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a friend for me to realize how bad

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the situation was. And, you

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know, I took steps and was

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in counseling and a lot

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of friends and family support. And I joined

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New Bay Larrick and not looking for something

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to change my life. I joined because I'm

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a GEA fan. I wanted a new hobby.

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But the last six months have just

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been incredible. And the highs that I've

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had, especially on those cold Saturday mornings,

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coming back from training in Phoenix Park.

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And like I would literally be bouncing

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up and down and see the excitement

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and the enthusiasm and the passion. And

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it was just that hit of

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of just joy that I was feeling has

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just been incredible. I'm really

2:30

so infectious, actually, to hear you talk about it

2:32

in that way. But I want to talk a

2:34

little bit more about the positivity of it. But

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just to give people an indication as to how

2:39

much of a transformation has been for you as much

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as you want to. Tell me how

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tough the tough time was. The

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tough time was really tough and I'm a

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really open and bubbly. I'm confident. I'm definitely

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an extrovert. I love being the center of

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attention. I like the conversations to revolve around

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me in the room. And

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I like I like going out, like being with my friends.

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And it was when I stopped

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wanting to go places and

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felt like, actually, I could just I'm happier to

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sit at home or I don't want

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to want to be around people. There

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was this this month, two years ago, I was

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supposed I went to Paris on a solo holiday

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and I was just really didn't want to go.

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And the leading up to that, I was hoping

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my flight would be canceled. I was hoping something

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would happen that I just wouldn't have to go.

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Now I went. I had a great time. As

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with every other social situation I was in, I

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always did have a good time when I was

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there. But you were called into yourself, is that

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it? Yeah. And I put on a front a

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lot of the time and, you know, turn on

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like I'm a journalist and I interview people. And

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so I have to turn on a certain charm

3:43

to do that. And yeah, I was able to

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just put on this fake Mikey and pretend everything.

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Do you know what happened, Mikey? And looking back

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now, I'm yeah, of

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course, that there's different

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catalysts that led to it. A

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lot of them are quite personal. But,

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you know, I'm dealing with all of that

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still and the NGA has just helped that

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in just a way that I didn't expect

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it to. Okay. And is it then the

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grey layer of the GAA Club, is it

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a sense of community or is it the

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exercise or have you put your finger on

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what the catalyst is for the transformation? I

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think it's both. I think the community

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spirit is unbelievable. I have two amazing

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groups of friends, my friends and Ennis,

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who I've been friends with since primary

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school, secondary school, college. We

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all live beside each other and that, like they'll

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be in my life forever. Same with my gay

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friends here in Dublin. I've been friends since I

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moved here eight and a half years ago and

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they will be in my life forever. But

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this new community has just added something

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extra. It's given something on top of

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those friendships. And it took a

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while to get to know people. We all went to

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Hamburg in February and I wasn't going to go. I

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was new to the club. I was only there six

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weeks or so. And about the third weekend, we were

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walking back from coffee in Phoenix Park and one of

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the players turned to me and said, Oh, you're going

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to Hamburg? I said, No, she all booked it last

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year and I'm new to it. I

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don't know anybody. And he kind of turned deadpan to

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me and said, Well, that's the reason you should come.

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That's where you're going to make your friends. And

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fast forward on the few weeks later, sitting in

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a dive bar on a dingy street in Hamburg,

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in a bar that was basically underground. We were

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the only people in there and they're sitting there

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drinking German pints, looking around the room going, I

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found my tribe. I can't believe I'm here. And

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it was, it felt so special. A kind of

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a sense of belonging, I suppose, and people who

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look after you a bit. And I know you've

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made some good friends. You've mentioned that, um, some

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of your, one of your teammates checked in with

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you on the day of your sister's anniversary. Is

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that right? Yeah. So my sister,

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Enid died in 2008, so 16 years ago. And, um,

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my first game starting a

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full match was the day of her anniversary,

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which to me was really special because

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she played Kamoaki for Claire. Um,

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we both had a shared love of

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GAA and just that's just

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for that day to be the day that

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I was. I played the full game was

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really, really nice. And I got out of

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the shower and I had a missed call

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and I rang my club mate back. And

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he just said he had seen my Instagram

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post about her because Nina don't

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have pictures anymore. There's a finite amount of

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pictures. And I like to share one on

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her anniversary every year. He said he had

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seen the picture. I just wanted to know

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if I was okay and best of luck

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in the match and that he'd be there

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to support me. Kindness is one

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of the big things that was instilled in me by

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my mom at home growing up. And

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I thrive off other people's kindness. And

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it's always the really small things like

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your friend's mom making you buns or

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somebody texting you or inviting you for

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a sleepover or just,

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and that phone call. It's always those really small

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things that always stick with me as well because

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I don't think there's enough kindness in the world.

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So when somebody goes out of their way to

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do something for you, I think it has to

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be really appreciated. You're dead right there. There's no

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question about it. You used to play in school,

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but you gave it up early. Why not? Yeah.

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And people ask that. It's like, oh, did you play before?

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I wasn't very good when I played then. And I'm not

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very good when I play now. My

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dilution is real for a lot of

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things, but I'm very self-aware of my skill levels. I

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gave it up because it's not been fun.

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I just stopped enjoying it. You're

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standing on the sideline and having these

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grown men just roaring at you. And

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I was getting no benefit from it,

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but my love of GAA never went

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away. Still followed Claire. My

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dad was involved with Claire Kamogi for years. I used to

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follow that. I used to go and help out.

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And as I mentioned, my sister played Kamogi, and

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I used to go to her games as well.

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And I wanted to play. And anyone

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who knows me from Ennis and where I'm

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from in her board, I was

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never without a hurly going up and down the road

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to Tierney's shop back to my house. And

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I got a message the other day from somebody

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from where I'm from who said, I'm going to

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tell my mom that you're back with the hurly.

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I feel under comeback in Claire now, Mikey. It's

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a genuine pleasure to talk to you.

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Have a great weekend, Mikey

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O'Loughlin. And we'll talk again, I'm

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sure, if you make it through the weekend in one

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piece. Thanks so much,

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Mark. Best of luck. See you. Bye-bye.