On this page, you will find a range of people from Belfast and beyond chatting to Paul O’Kane – from Belfast Men’s Health Group – about their lives, work, health and more in a series of fun, light hearted podcasts with very important messages.
Podcast 38
Today Joe Barr is going to talk about how he got into cycling and endurance cycling. He will tell us how he deals with the highs and lows of being an elite athlete.
Joe Barr has been racing bikes his whole life. He has won over 500 races and amassed hundreds of medals and trophies in an impressive array of cycling disciplines. He is a Commonwealth Games bronze medallist from 1986 and has proudly represented his country at numerous World Championship events throughout the years
Joe currently holds endurance records in Ireland and is a highly respected and recognised competitor at home and abroad.
“To compete in endurance, your courage must be greater than your fear.”
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Podcast 37
James McIlroy talks to Paul O’Kane about he got into running and how he dealt with the highs and lows of being an elite athlete. He is now the race director of the Antrim Coast Half Marathon, which has twice attracted his friend, Sir Mo Farah, as well as Jo Pavey, Scott Overall and Kevin Seaward among others.
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Podcast 36
Shane Martin is a psychologist dedicated to teaching the very best evidenced based psychology to help people protect their mental health and enhance the quality of their lives.
Shane has been a keynote speaker at numerous conferences on a range of topics around well being, positive mental health, recovery and happiness.
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Podcast 35
Paul Doran was diagnosed with head and neck cancer. He will tell us a wee bit about his journey from being diagnosed, his treatment and finally his recovery.
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Podcast 34
Norman Bowman teaches Cognitive Behavioural Therapy or CBT. In this Podcast, Norman will talk about CBT and its benefit. He will outline his background, starting work in Psychiatry, and then leaning about CBT.
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Podcast 33
Paul Smyth is the Executive Director at Politics in Action. He works with young people on issues related to the conflict and training youth workers, teachers and others to do the same. He has also worked closely with colleagues in conflict regions around the world.
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Podcast 32
Eoin Kernan is a water sport enthusiast and is living with an eating disorder. Eoin will talk about eating disorders and where you can get help.
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Podcast 31
Naomi Thompson is a world authority on smoking and vaping, and has been helping smokers quit for more than 20 years. She works for Cancer Focus NI.
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Podcast 30
Gary ‘Spike’ O’Sullivan is a professional middleweight boxer from Cork. Spike will talk about how he got into boxing and how he deals with the highs and lows of being an elite athlete.
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Podcast 29
Robert West is Emeritus Professor of Health Psychology, University College London and a world authority on smoking and addiction. He has been a key player in the UK’s Stop Smoking Services, and has also written a number of books on stopping smoking and addiction.
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Podcast 28
Joe Donnelly is the CEO of Tackling Awareness of Mental Health Issues (TAMHI). This is a mental health charity that works with sports clubs and groups who use sport to raise awareness of mental health and resilience. TAMHI works with sports clubs, schools, and youth groups to make mental health fun and engaging. They are based in North Belfast.
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Podcast 27
This Podcast is with Matt Shields from parkrun. Matt is a retired civil engineer who indulged himself in his lifelong hobby of running by volunteering at parkrun. This has grown beyond his expectations and, in 2012, he became parkrun Ireland Country Manager. Matt will talk about parkrun, couch-to-5k, and also some of his interests.
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Podcast 26
Cate Conway is a Radio, TV, Webinar and Podcast presenter. She works for BBC NI and U105.
Cate is also an ambassador for AWARE, the depression charity for Northern Ireland. She became involved after having experienced the impact of poor mental health following the loss of her former Q Radio co-host Stephen Clements in 2020.
In this podcast, Cate talks about herself and how she became involved in the media world.
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Podcast 25
Breanna Gentile, PhD completed her bachelor’s in psychology at Gonzaga University. She went on to receive two Master’s degrees – one from Golden Gate University in Counselling and the second from Palo Alto University in Clinical Psychology.
Dr. Gentile founded Dr. G’s Lab, an incubator for teens that serves as a feeder to top accelerators in California. She has authored studies that have been published in peer-reviewed journals and has been an invited speaker on trauma-informed practices and design at multiple national conferences and symposiums.
Dr. Gentile has spent over 10 years working to improve outcomes for children, teens and their caregivers working through Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and toxic stress. Her work with behavioural health providers, communities and families has allowed her to develop a keen insight into the challenges of supporting resilience through trauma-informed practices.
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Podcast 24
This podcast focuses upon the true story of a stuttering homosexual and his race car.
Robert O’Brien loves cars. Being behind the wheel was a refuge from bullying, insecurity, anxiety and confusion. His father’s race car, a BMW E30 M3 Sport Evolution nicknamed the Beast, became his alter ego (powerful, admired, confident) and Robert began a quest to become a worthy owner; a “real man.”
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Podcast 23
In this podcast, Dr Angela Atalla (who is a Consultant in Sleep and Respiratory Medicine) talks about Sleep Apnoea, its causes and the treatments that are provided. Angela is based in the Regional Respiratory Unit, Belfast City Hospital.
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Podcast 22
Vinnie Hurrell is a Radio and TV Producer and Presenter with BBC NI. He talks about how he got involved in broadcasting and the different types of work he is involved with. He produces the Stephen Nolan Show, and has expanded into other areas he has interests in. He also talks about his family life and how it was living under the Covid restrictions.
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Podcast 21
Finian Murray is the Senior Health Promotion and Improvement Officer for Men’s Health within the Health Service Executive (HSE) and has been a long-time contributor to the Men’s Health Forum in Ireland
In this podcast, Finian talks about men and masculinity.
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Podcast 20
Denise Watson has been involved in Television and Radio as a sports journalist and radio presenter. She worked for many years in the BBC and is now on UTV. She broadcasts each morning with Maurice Jay on U105’s Breakfast Show to a very large audience of listeners!
On this podcast she talks about her life, family, interests and how she got involved with the media’
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Podcast 19
Dr. Alan Curley is a University Lecturer in Health and Wellbeing studies at UWS and a Director of UC-Mindsolutions Ltd, an Award Winning Centre for Sport and Life Improvement. He is also a Practitioner with the Faculty of Public Health (FPH), a member of the British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies (BABCP) and Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (HEA).
Alan is, currently, a lecturer in the University of Glasgow, working in mental health and addictions. He also works as a sports psychologist with clients trying to improve their sporting performance. He has written a book called ‘Playing the Game of Your Life’. This book offers a guide to happy successful living for people who are looking to move forward in their life-journey or make a change to their life-game.
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Podcast 18
Tim McGarry is a comedian, actor, broadcaster and member of the ‘Hole in the Wall Gang’. In this podcast, Tim talks about who he is, what makes him tick, and how he got involved in TV and radio. He also talks about how he leads his life and some of his interests – which range from Cliftonville Football Club to being a Patron with the Northern Ireland Humanists.
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Podcast 17
Ralph McLean is a local TV presenter, radio DJ, arts commentator, radio producer and newspaper columnist. Ralph presents his BBC radio show ‘The Ralph McLean Show’ from Tuesday to Thursday, between 8pm and 10pm, playing music which includes a range from classical to country music. Ralph is also involved in television and writes for local newspapers. He enjoys films and tells us about a very interesting visit and car journey with the famous Hollywood actor Tommy Lee Jones. We have something for everyone on this Podcast!!
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Podcast 16
Thamra Ayton is the Clinical Lead Physiotherapist for Pelvic Health in Belfast Trust. She works with men and women of all ages, dealing with pelvic health problems. This can involve bladder, bowel and sexual dysfunction or problems with pain in the pelvic area. She and colleagues are also involved with men who have received cancer treatment and, particularly, men who have been treated for prostate cancer. Men sometimes find it difficult to talk about their health, and areas such as pelvic issues can be very difficult for them to seek treatment for and information on. We think this podcast will educate and bring men some very useful information in relation to pelvic health issues and how to get further advice.
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Podcast 15
Billy Dixon is an internationally known speaker, author, specialist in personal projection and branding. In this interview, Billy provides some advice on maximising our potential and being the best version of ourselves.
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Podcast 14
In this Podcast, Philip McGarry talks about how he became a Psychiatrist, his interest as an Interpersonal Psychotherapist, and also how the COVID-19 crisis is having an impact in terms of mental health issues. He has worked for the Belfast Trust for many years, although now on a sessional basis following partial retirement.
Philip has a long-standing interest in local politics and current affairs.
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Podcast 13
Cahir Murray talks about ‘The Dads Project’ which supports fathers in Northern Ireland who are separating, separated or currently involved with the courts service.
The Dads Project promotes the importance of fathers being engaged and involved in their children’s lives. This project helps them to develop more confidence in their parenting ability and builds positive connections with other dads in a similar position.
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Podcast 12
Joan Davis is the Director of Family Mediation Northern Ireland (FMNI), a Registered Charity. In this podcast, she describes the work she does with FMNI, and how they provide independent and impartial family mediation. She outlines that they have been in existence for twenty one years and are celebrating their birthday.
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Podcast 11
Keith Cullen works with Splash Sure Start in Brownlow, Craigavon. In this podcast, he describes the work he does with them, and also the work that is offered to dads in the local community. This involves getting the fathers engaged with their kids in activities they are interested in. It covers a range of areas and includes trips and visits to venues in the local area.
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Podcast 10
Stephen Barr, from Start360, manages the Employability, Personal Development and Mental Health services within Start360. A keen sportsman, Stephen enjoys fitness training and is a long-suffering Liverpool fan.
However, he also manages the Lads 2 Dads Programme, which was developed around the needs of young men who sought help from Start360 in relation to parenting. This provides support for young fathers who are deemed to be either fathers, stepfathers or fathers-to-be, and also 1-1 mentoring/advocacy support for all participants, ensuring their needs are supported.
Stephen explains how it came about and some of the main benefits for young men.
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Podcast 9
Dr Gavin Breslin is a Senior Lecturer in Sport and Exercise Psychology in the School of Sport, Ulster University. He is a member of the Sport and Exercise Sciences Research Institute, and a researcher with the Bamford Centre – with a research focus on sport, mental health and well-being.
Gavin is a British Psychological Society Chartered Sport and Exercise Psychologist (of which he is former Course Director of an accredited MSc programme), a registered practitioner of the Health Care Professions Council, and a fellow of the Higher Education Academy.
In this podcast, Gavin provides some advice on coping with the COVID pandemic and how exercise is good for our mental health.
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Podcast 8
Frank McNally is the Prostate Cancer UK’s Northern Ireland Volunteer Co-ordinator. He also looks after the Volunteer Hub.
In this podcast, Frank provides information on prostate cancer, the risks and how it affects men. He suggests actions to take and what we can do to reduce our risk of prostate cancer.
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Podcast 7
Make this March the Month to Stop Smoking … To help us move in that direction, we have an interview with one of our own members of Belfast Men’s Health Group, Paul O’Kane. Paul is actually employed as a Stop Smoking Specialist, based in Belfast Health and Social Care Trust. The Trust provides a service for patients and staff, and he explains how this works. There are other ways to stop smoking and these include contacting your GP or local Pharmacy.
If you smoke, now is the time to give up!
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Podcast 6
Kerry O’Flaherty is a local runner – competing, primarily, in the 3,000 metres steeplechase. She competed at the 2015 World Championships in Beijing and in the 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil. Kerry has also competed at two European Championships and one European Indoor Championship.
In this podcast, she talks about her life in athletics, and some of the mental and physical issues she has had to deal with to enable her to compete at the top level in her sport. She also has two Whippets who run with her and also Alpacas.
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Podcast 5
Malachy Cush is a local musician and broadcaster who many will remember as a performer on BBC’s Fame Academy. He has had an eventful and interesting career to date.
Here he talks about his background, the area he lives in, and his plans for the future. He also mentions the mental health and well being issues facing musicians under the present difficulties presented by COVID-19.
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Podcast 4
Alderman Frank McCoubrey talks about his role in local Belfast politics and becoming Lord Mayor in 2020. He discusses some of the work he has been doing since his appointment, which has been affected by the COVID-19 outbreak.
He has had a number of personal health issues over the last few years which have had a great impact on him. He encourages everyone to keep fit and take exercise. Frank has been involved with a number of groups in Belfast, including Age Friendly and Men’s Sheds, and this has been impacted by the City’s Active Belfast Project which aims to promote healthy living.
The Lord Mayor says the people of Belfast are resilient people. He has travelled to all parts of Belfast and has seen the coming together of the people of the City. He has great hope for the future of Belfast and is looking forward to his final six months as Lord Mayor.
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Podcast 3
In this podcast, John Cantwell talks about some of the therapeutic and health programmes he is involved with. He also discusses some of the impacts of the recent COVID-19 crisis and its impact on men and society.
He is a husband, cyclist and an academic/therapist – very much ‘the medicine man.’ We hope you will enjoy this colourful, entertaining, and insightful podcast.
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Podcast 2
Dr Mark Davies, Consultant Clinical Psychologist, Belfast Trust, is interviewed by Paul O’Kane. He gives us some advice on how to look after our mental health, with some good tips! Mark also explains what Clinical Psychology is, and talks about where he is from and his interests.
Looking at the current COVID-19 situation, Mark says we have been asked as a nation to basically switch off. That means ignoring friends and limiting social access etc. This has caused problems; with some experiencing anxiety and other issues. However, he says we are now improving, as we get to better days. It is important to switch back on again in the safest way as possible.
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Podcast 1
Paul O’Kane from Belfast Men’s Health Group interviews Professor Joe O’Sullivan from the Northern Ireland Cancer Centre, Belfast Health and Social Care Trust. The interview focuses on Joe’s work as a Cancer Specialist, his advice for men, and also his interest in music. It features some songs from Joe’s latest CD production which is called ‘Instead of Many Shades of Blue’.
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