Sport for Business

From Medal to Mentor: Aifric Keogh's Journey as Olympic Athletes' Champion

Rob Hartnett, Aifric Keogh Season 3 Episode 13

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The path from Olympic glory to meaningful leadership isn't straightforward, but Aifric Keogh is navigating it with the same determination that earned her bronze in Tokyo. 

As the newly elected Chair of the Olympic Federation of Ireland's Athletes Commission, she's setting out to create and articulate a vision for athlete representation at the highest levels.

"Sometimes it's people doing great work, driving policies, making change, getting funding, but sometimes the actual athletes' concerns and opinions get lost," Keogh explains, pinpointing exactly why her role matters. 

With nine athletes representing sports from team pursuits to individual disciplines like luge, the commission aims to bridge critical gaps between those competing and those administrating.

Keogh's personal journey adds depth to her perspective. She shares candid reflections on Tokyo's triumph – "one of the best teams I've ever worked in" – contrasted with Paris disappointment that she acknowledges will "take years to process." This honesty about sport's emotional extremes makes her uniquely qualified to advocate for athletes navigating similar challenges.

Perhaps most compelling is Keogh's transparency about transitioning from elite competition to corporate life through JP Morgan's athlete program. "Sport doesn't last forever," she acknowledges, describing the jarring shift from being at her career peak to "knowing absolutely nothing" in a new environment. Her observations about seeking feedback and applying the principle of consistency reveal the universal struggles athletes face when building second careers.

Throughout our conversation, her intelligence and thoughtfulness shine through – whether discussing the Galway sporting landscape, lessons from disappointment, or her eclectic fantasy dinner party with Ronan O'Gara, Taylor Swift, and President Zelensky. 

Her combination of sporting excellence, leadership potential, and authentic humanity promises a powerful voice for Ireland's Olympic athletes in the years ahead.

Want to hear more inspiring stories from Irish sport? Subscribe to the Sport for Business podcast and join us at our upcoming events, including the PWC 30 Under 30 breakfast, League of Ireland Breakfast, and Business of Golf event.



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Speaker 1:

Hello and welcome to the Sport for Business podcast. I'm your host, rob Hartnett, and today I am delighted to be joined in conversation by the newly elected chair of the Athletes Commission of the Olympic Federation of Ireland, olympian and Olympic medalist, afrik Keogh. Thank you. So africyo has been elected as the voice of olympic athletes and indeed perhaps in terms of the broader sporting spectrum as well. She's the new chair of the Athletes' Commission of the Olympic Federation of Ireland. She's also one of only two Galwegians to land an Olympic medal. She did that at the Tokyo Games in rowing with her team of four.

Speaker 1:

When she went back to repeat the trick in Paris, it didn't work out quite so well. But we touch on those highs and lows of Olympic competition through her own lens as well as through those of others. We look at the hopes and dreams that she has, together with the rest of her committee, for how to represent the athlete's voice and how to make the best connection between those that are actually out there training and competing with the administration and the world of sport that exists beyond the water or the pitch. It's a fascinating conversation. She is a deeply intelligent woman who has got an awful lot to say and an awful lot to give back. So, without further ado, let's get into the conversation with Afrik Kiel, delighted to be out here in the Olympic House on the Sport Ireland campus. Afrik Kyo, you're very welcome to the Sport for Business podcast.

Speaker 2:

Thank you very much for having me.

Speaker 1:

The reason, one of the reasons why we're speaking today is your newfound position elected as chair of the Athletes' Commission for the OFI. Tell us a little bit about what the Athletes Commission is all about and about what your role is going to be now over the coming years.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so the Athletes Commission essentially represents the voice of the athlete and you know, if we think of the environment of sport in Ireland, we obviously have the OFI, we have Sport Ireland, we have the Institute of Sport. You, we obviously have the OFI, we've Sport Ireland, we've the Institute of Sport. You know we've so many bodies that are obviously trying to make sport the amazing thing that it is for this country. But I think our job primarily is to represent the athlete's voice in that, um, those conversations. And you know it's it.

Speaker 2:

Sometimes it's people doing great work, you know, driving policies, making change, getting funding, but sometimes I think the actual athletes concerns and opinions get lost in that. So we're a group of ex-athletes. You know, we know the drill. Actually, sorry, we're not all x. There's some people who are still involved in their sport. So, yeah, we kind of are, are very close, uh, close to our sports and close to all the other sports, and we would have, I suppose, the athletes um point of view, um in mind whenever we edit those conversations how big is the commission?

Speaker 2:

so there are nine athletes on the commission, and then we have heather boyle of the ofi. She's um, she's in charge as well of working with us too.

Speaker 1:

Okay, heather is great. The role of chair is that something? Have you chaired anything before? Is it something that you're kind of you're working your way into, or is it something that you kind of thought, no, I'm ready for this, I'm good for this.

Speaker 2:

No brand new experience for me and yeah, something I suppose when I was doing out my application to put myself forward for it, you know I saw the question, do you want to put yourself forward for chair? And I kind of hadn't really thought about it in that capacity. I just wanted to get involved. And yeah, I suppose I was kind of like sure, look, why not, I'll put myself forward. I didn't truly expect to actually be in this position. To be honest, you know, having a quick chat with Heather, I was thinking there'd be people from the previous commission around wanting to do it, but it was maybe with a view that maybe next time around I might do it. But here we are with the new position to my name. But yeah, it's been great and I obviously have Billy as vice chair and he does have some experience. Um, he is a chair of a chair of another board. So you know, he's been a great support to me.

Speaker 1:

it's a huge learning curve and but I'm enjoying it great and very much about setting the tone as opposed to doing anything else, but it does tend to kind of land to you to actually sort of determine.

Speaker 1:

Well, which way might we approach this collectively? Of course the idea of an athlete's commission is interesting, and you mentioned about the athlete's voice. In Ireland, you know, and we're in the midst of GAA championships and rugby six nations and the Irish national football teams and things like that we kind of tend to coalesce most regularly around team sport and when we grow up we kind of play team sport as kids. Now I know that you know Billy is coming from the rugby sevens, you're in teams yourself, indeed as well from the rowing side of it, but the, the Olympian athlete, it tends to be a more solo venture, doesn't it that you don't have necessarily the same levels of support around you, as you know, as a GAA championship footballer, hurling or camogie team would have. Does that make the commission that much more important in terms of gathering in individual voices as opposed to that sort of that one of collective, where decisions are taken collectively and opinions perhaps are reached collectively as well?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I think it's very important to represent, you know, the entirety, all the sports, winter and summer, and some of them do come from those bigger teams like hockey, rugby and rowing. But you know we also have Elsa Desmond who she's the single luge athlete, so her experience of Olympic sport is so different to mine and you know you can see the different levels of support across the board across all different sports, and you know that's, I suppose, the nature of Olympic sport in our country. They only have a limited resources in terms of funding and support. They have to kind of put the money where it's performing. But ultimately that leaves a lot of gaps and you know we want to get out there and listen to the athletes and hear.

Speaker 2:

You know we're not going to be able to solve everything and that's something that we've already spoken about. There's going to be countless individual cases where there's going to be needs. There's going to be countless individual cases where there's going to be needs, but our view and hope is okay. Well, can we do something to hopefully prevent that happening in the next few years? Or, you know, look, that's something that might come up down the road. Is there anything that we can do? That, essentially, you know, a big stone that's going to kill many birds in a way. So, yeah, I think our part of our job now is to go out and identify, you know, what are the athletes thinking, what are they saying the ones that went to Paris, the ones that are targeting LA, the ones that are targeting Brisbane or the ones that are probably you know, maybe the Olympics isn't on the horizon, but they're involved in the team. So, yeah, I think our aim is to try and cater to as many people as possible, but to actually have, like a real impact with those initiatives.

Speaker 1:

And there is that saying that a problem shared is a problem halved. So oftentimes. I was speaking to Thomas Barr recently and we were talking about, you know, booking flights and booking hotels and then not being sure whether you were going to make the call list for the line and things like that, and that's something which athletes, even at the level, are facing time in time out. If you're on the irish men's rugby team, you don't need to worry about flights and hotels. There's going to be somebody there. So listening to those kind of stories and figuring out a way you mentioned about the job so the job is, the term lasts for four years what would you say is kind of high on your priority list for the first couple of years of that? It'll change, obviously, as time progresses, but what are the things that you would most like to actually be able to place a tick alongside?

Speaker 2:

I mean something really simple, just about building awareness of us.

Speaker 2:

You know, when I kind of told a lot of my kind of friends and colleagues that I was, you know, on this athletes commission, they're like that's great, but what does it do?

Speaker 2:

You know they hadn't even heard about it. So our first job at the moment is we're going to divvy up all the sports amongst the nine of us. We're actually just going to go out and try and meet, you know, the leadership teams within of the athletes within those sports. If they have kind of athlete reps or whatever it might be, and just, you know, with no agenda, just go down and talk to them and get that relationship going. So you know, it's not a case two or three years, um, where we have all these initiatives ready to go when they don't know who we are. You know we need a buy in to actually to be able to kind of deliver with them. So I think our first thing that we want to do is just to kind of build those relationships and, yeah, kind of have one to ones, start listening to them, get that information together and pull that together to try and build our strategy for the next few years.

Speaker 1:

Okay, how often do you meet as a group?

Speaker 2:

for the next few years. Okay, how often do you meet as a group?

Speaker 2:

So we've set in for six every six weeks a formal meeting as a group, but last night we had our first one and I think we were kind of encouraging, you know, everyone to actually just pick up the phone and start talking to each other. You know, billy and I met for coffee last week. I'm always on the phone to Heather, so I have a call with Hannah from the hockey team next week. So it's just about keeping that communication as regular as possible.

Speaker 1:

Great, excellent. And let's park the OFI for a moment and talk a little bit more about about you and your life and your career in rowing One of the first Irish female athletes in the in the rowing to actually win an Olympic medal. What are the memories now? You know sort of. What are we four years on from Tokyo? What are the memories? That kind of keep you warm at night when you're sitting there thinking back on that life in sport.

Speaker 2:

I think the standout from Tokyo is just the actual team itself Obviously, the four of us in the boat, but also our coach, giuseppe. We just had such an amazing relationship. You often see teams that are quite successful and you hear later on that there was cracks under the surface, but genuinely it was one of the best teams that I've ever worked in and we're still in touch all the time, kind of firing texts into the WhatsApp group and, yeah, I think we have plans to go back to Tokyo on our 10 year anniversary to actually see the country this time, because last time it was very much bus, village water, that's it. You know nothing else. So, yeah, I think, when I think of tokyo, yeah, I think of the medal, I think of that amazing achievement, but it is just, I think, the bond that we managed to create, um in that, in that weird period of time where do you keep the medal?

Speaker 2:

um, it's in, so we got a pouch with it, obviously, and it's um, I have a little like first aid kit in my room and I just have it on top of that because you kind of have to bring it in and out to places and so, yeah, that's, it's kind of semi-permanent to him at the moment.

Speaker 1:

OK, great first aid for any mental challenges.

Speaker 2:

Oh yeah, I did this.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, exactly. And then Paris, Paris wasn't quite the same experience. And then Paris, paris wasn't quite the same experience. And yet, at the same time, team Ireland, the buzz around it, the fact that it was effectively a home Olympics. There were so many of us that were over there and a part of it. So, all around you, everything is the most brilliant Olympic experience. You had the ultimate brilliant Olympic experience. Then paris wasn't the same.

Speaker 2:

how tough was that in the moment yeah, it was really tough and I think when I think of it I have to think of it in two sections, like the first week where you know we went out and we raced and it absolutely did not go the way we'd planned at all. It was a nightmare. And fiona and I have to kind of quickly say you know, this is going to take us years to kind of process and figure out, but we need to kind of park this at the moment because you know, we're in paris at an olympic games. It's such a huge games for ireland. All our friends and family were there who had missed out in tokyo. You know we really have to try and make the most of that week and obviously, like you know, our teammates have done so well too.

Speaker 2:

So yeah, there was kind of like a moment where, like this is awful but like let's just deal with this at a later date. But you know I do have great memories from Paris. Like I had a great week, you know, spectating, hanging out with all my friends and getting to see teammates that you know were disappointed in Tokyo kind of turned that around. You know, phil obviously had, you know, an amazing experience and I kind of saw him go through that kind of Tokyo disappointment. So it was like the roles reversed a little bit. But um, yeah, it was hard because I especially I had known it was going to be, you know, my last games but, you know, at the end the day you do have to kind of just be grateful Look, I have my medal.

Speaker 2:

I have it from a different games. This is kind of just a bonus where I get to actually enjoy the Olympic experience. So you know, you kind of you go forward and back between between those kind of thoughts.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and you said it was likely going to take you years. How far on the journey are you now? Or does does that element of distance actually sort of make it more, more gettable in your head that you can actually think, well, no, I have my Olympic medal, I can put my hand down and I can, I can touch that.

Speaker 2:

so yeah focus on that look, it depends on the day. You know, some days you're kind of like you, you can really accept it and you say, look, that's, that's life, that's sport. You can list off how many other athletes who've gone through a similar situation. And then maybe some other day you might just think, oh my God, like what happened? You know, you kind of do go over and back in your thought process and you know Fiona and I have discussed it there's you know how many potential reasons why it happened, and it's not just one reason, it was probably a combination.

Speaker 2:

And that's probably the hardest bit, that everyone's like asking what happened, what happened. And you know you're like, well, I don't know, and you need to kind of accept no one's ever going to rock up with a piece of paper and say this is the reason why it didn't go well. And yeah, you know, I think if you can get your head around that consistently, then you know it's a bit easier to, I suppose, deal with yeah, and we can change the future, but we can't change the past exactly, yeah that's a, that's a guess.

Speaker 1:

You mentioned Fiona there and Fiona was with you in the four and she was with you in the two and she was also with you in Galway and it kind of feels bizarre about the fact that the two of you are the only people of Galway that have actually won an Olympic medal.

Speaker 2:

I know, yeah, and I only actually realized that not recently, but it took me a while for that kind of fact to land in. My dad was straight in with that kind of when I got home and I hadn't even crossed my mind. But yeah, it is, it's, it's, it's mad. And I, coming from, we both obviously grew up training on the car, we were in different clubs so we just go past each other. But you know, rowing is huge in Galway and there's so many clubs and it's kind of crazy that it's taken this long for it to happen. Like, when I was in school, cormac Follin went to the Beijing Olympics. He was in my school, was in school, cormac Follin went to the Beijing Olympics, he was in my school, and so that was kind of my kind of first realization that like, oh, people from Galway or this club can go to the Olympics with this sport. So hopefully it won't take as long for for someone else to get there.

Speaker 1:

Hopefully so, and it is such a great sporting city and the university and all the facilities and and everything like that. It's great to see People like me often talk kind of you know, very knowledgeably, about the lessons that you can transfer from sport to business and from sport to life. You've learned lessons on the biggest stages in the world, both on the podium and in the room afterwards when you're trying to process what, what it is, that went wrong. That idea of taking the lessons from it. Does it need, does it need, time away from sport before you can really begin to think that, or is there some element that you're thinking after a particularly tough training session? Yeah, but I learned this now and I can actually sort of use that in my life. It'll make me a better person within my working environment, within my family environment, within my life.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I think it. Obviously it takes a while and you know, I used to always hear you'll have such great transferable skills and lessons from sport into the real world and I'm probably only really starting to realize that now as I'm making this transition. But at the moment I suppose I went from being kind of, you know, at the, at the, at the peak of my career, in one thing in rowing, to kind of walking in day one to knowing like absolutely nothing that was going on um, in my new job. So it's a big shift in, I suppose, like kind of I suppose you know status of where you kind of fall within that group and, yeah, you're kind of right down at the bottom, learning from scratch again.

Speaker 2:

And in terms of, you know, performance, you know, in rowing we had so many metrics to be like.

Speaker 2:

You know you're not hitting this target and it was constant every day, whereas at work I'm kind of looking for that feedback all the time to say am I doing a good job? And you know we're used to straight away our coach saying no or yes or you know, change this. So yeah, I'm kind of looking around to be like who's going to tell me I'm doing a good job, um, but you know, I think, like you know, in everything you have a good day, you have a bad day. But I think one thing I've kind of learned to bring into work is it's just about consistency. You know, not every day is going to be good, not every day is going to be bad, but if you essentially just keep showing off and, you know, trying to make that progress kind of either week by week or quarter by quarter, as we're dealing with things now, you know it's not four yearyear cycles anymore, um, but yeah, so kind of just finding my feet there and I'm sure, as I go on, yeah, I'll start to realize a little bit more.

Speaker 1:

Not four-year cycles, but also not an eight-minute decision on whether you're any good or whether you're no good at all.

Speaker 1:

So it does sit very, very much within, within the middle of those, um, what is work these days? So you know it's tough, isn't it when, when you're defined throughout the first chapter of your life as being a brilliant athlete and an Olympic medalist, you'll always be an Olympian. But how we define ourselves according to what we do is, you know, is tough, and changing from one career path to another tends to have a little bit less fraction than changing from being an athlete into what you're doing. So what is, what is the map of africa's life over the next decade, say, looking like?

Speaker 2:

yeah, that's a good question and that is something you know, I kind of thought I had done all the work throughout while I was studying, you know, or sorry, while I was training I was. I had done kind of work throughout while I was studying, you know, or sorry, while I was training I was. I had done kind of three degrees. I thought, you know, once I finish this I'm ready to go. You know, the job offers will be on the plate and you know, I just I don't think I was really proactive in thinking, ok, what do I actually want to do, what, where do I see myself going? And I suppose it's hard to know when you don't know the reality of any of those things.

Speaker 2:

So at the moment I've found a great opportunity. I'm doing an athlete transition program within JP Morgan. So they take in ex-athletes and actually ex-military as well it's military and athletes and they place you within the company for six months and it's kind of like a six-month interview. You know they're giving you a little bit of leeway, initially to say, you know, put your hands up and say I don't know what's going on here, but it's a good learning experience. And then ultimately, yeah, you'd hopefully roll off into a role within the company, or if you know it's a good taste, or if you don't like it, you can say thank you and move on. So yeah, I'm halfway through that at the moment. So every day is definitely a school day at the moment.

Speaker 1:

That's pretty cool and they're understanding and probably quite supportive and probably quite impressed about you putting your hand up on the Athletes' Commission side of it as well. So never mind the sporting excellence and the training regimes and everything like that that you can bring into it, but you've obviously shown leadership potential as well, which a big financial institution like JP Morgan is always looking for leaders.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, you know, I think they were all very supportive when, when they heard the news. And you know, obviously when I'm just an associate or at the moment, it is kind of like maybe just a sign for future. But yeah, I'm still very much learning the ropes. I won't be putting my hand up in that capacity in that building at the moment.

Speaker 1:

It's a question that's not often asked of sports people going back into roles like that. But how does it feel like you would be going into a you know, it's like you said, a kind of an interview, internship, sort of a cycle within a big organization, and those around you are probably a lot younger, that they're coming out of college, that they're still very much sort of you know, wide-eyed and excited about other things, but they don't have anything like the experience that you have. But how does that feel?

Speaker 2:

Well, that was one thing they kind of said to us. You know, I mean, obviously there's 64 of us doing this program all across Europe, so we're in different locations. And the kind of one thing they told us in our induction week was you know, you might be in a position where someone is 10 years younger than you is explaining how to do something, and sometimes that dynamic doesn't work with people. And to me I was kind of like oh sure, look, look, if someone's willing to help me, like I don't mind. So I think there is a great mix of kind of you know, age and experience where I am, in the office that I am in, so, yeah, I don't, I don't mind at all. And I think they, you know, they're also curious about my life and they're kind of like how do you end up here with what you've done? And kind of like, well, sport doesn't last forever, unfortunately, so you have to kind of find your way in a different world at some point yeah, well, sport at that very highest level, if it's any consolation.

Speaker 1:

The older you get, the less important it is about age and the way that the age dynamics and those relationships work. So stick with it and, yeah, and don't lose faith. Um, look, it's been brilliant chatting to you and the very best of luck with the um, you know, with it, with the new role and with everything that you're going to be doing in that. I always like to finish off with a few quick fire questions to try and get under the skin of who you are and what you like in life.

Speaker 1:

So if you're OK with that, the first of them is can you tell us a little bit about your first childhood sporting memory?

Speaker 2:

childhood sporting memory. Okay, first childhood sporting memory, I think it was watching Sonia win her silver medal in Sydney. I think it was Like that was my first I suppose you know TV experience of sport that I can really remember.

Speaker 2:

But growing up my cousin played for Munster rugby, so my parents are both from Limerick, so whether it was on the TV or we were there, yeah, that was kind of my childhood. So we traveled all over kind of Ireland, and a couple of abroad trips went to the Heineken Cup final against Wasps in Cardiff in 2008. So yeah, they were great experiences and memory from growing up.

Speaker 1:

Great, excellent and you can hold that up for billy when you're chatting around the air, around the commission table as well if there was outside of the olympics, is there one sporting event that you would love to go to that you haven't actually been to yet?

Speaker 2:

um, we went to the rugby world cup in paris. We were over visiting the Olympic course in November, in 2023. I think it was November sometime when the World Cup was on and we got tickets to the semifinal. New Zealand, and was it Argentina? I think, potentially.

Speaker 2:

Yeah we got to that match Now it wasn't a very exciting match, so I was kind of like oh you, you know you hype yourself up for these massive occasions. One thing I will say and I think it was just from watching it on the tv maybe two weeks ago was the energy from the London marathon I thought was insane. Like 50,000 people raced, obviously every level, but 1.1 million people have entered the ballot for next year to try and race. You know, I think it's just. I remember watching the court marathon last year and you can, you know, see people's names and you're just like you don't know them, you're just cheering them and they just look over and you're kind of like, oh god, they're, they're really suffering.

Speaker 2:

So I think a marathon is such a great like mix between you know the very, very elite down to you know just people trying to survive and get through it okay, I'd say there might be a little gap if you ever wanted to run in the double marathon I don't know, do rowers take well to to running?

Speaker 2:

maybe well you know, there is that kind of that level of endurance and stuff like that which is needed a couple of simple ones tea or coffee oh, coffee in the morning, tea then throughout the day very well organized, very well boxed off Netflix or a night of the movies Netflix.

Speaker 1:

Okay, what's something you've watched recently that you thought was good?

Speaker 2:

I'm currently watching the fifth season of you.

Speaker 1:

Okay.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I've been waiting for a while for that one to come out.

Speaker 1:

Very good, yeah, that's what it's like, and would you be a binge watcher?

Speaker 2:

I used to be when I was training, like obviously just whenever I came home, but now, no, I'm trying to find the time to actually finish something as difficult.

Speaker 1:

Okay. Yeah, that's one of those things that life catches up on you as well.

Speaker 2:

Any advice on a book that you've enjoyed, whether it be for education, inspiration or pure escapism um, I am currently reading open the autobiography by andrea gassi, the tennis player, and I've owned that physical book for, I'd say, about 10 years and I've started it about five or six times and I can never finish it. And I've just heard by some people say it's so amazing but I just couldn't get past the point. But now I'm nearly finished and I have to say, yeah, it has been brilliant. Um, annalise Murphy actually recommended it to me so I said when she said it I was like I actually have it.

Speaker 1:

So, um, yeah, nearly finished that one and it also makes you grateful for your parents as well. I guess, and you look at what's there. That's what he possibly went through. Yeah, um, what would make you happiest in 2025 out of Galway winning either a men's football all-island, a women's football all-island uh, hurling all-island or a camogie all-island, because your contenders potentially know four of them.

Speaker 2:

Well, I'd have to back the women anyway over that um, and maybe just with everything going on, it would be great if it was the camogie um, just with all the the turmoil okay, yeah, wearing shorts yes, well, wearing what they want to wear wearing what they want to wear, exactly that's the right thing to do?

Speaker 1:

and what was the last thing that made you laugh out loud?

Speaker 2:

oh god, last thing that made me laugh out loud there's a great podcast I listen to. Um, well, I think it's great. Um, it's called I'm Grandmam and it's two cork guys and they're best friends and they just talk absolute well, rubbish, slash nonsense, and yeah, it's just nice to kind of switch off and kind of laugh along with it.

Speaker 1:

Cool. Um, what would be near the top of your playlist when you're driving around or just taking time out to listen to music?

Speaker 2:

I actually at at the moment. I need to get new music because I'm still on all the playlists from training and it's just like really like intense beats that obviously kept me going. So I'm in the market for new music in that regard.

Speaker 1:

Okay, answers on a postcard, please, or any whatever your digital form of communication of choice. And finally, if I was able to book a restaurant in Della, say on Dominic Street or another fancy restaurant in Galway, and I was allow you to bring three guests along uh, not related to them, because that would sort of narrow it down, but they can be dead or alive, they can be from sport or from outside of sport. Who would you like to share your table with?

Speaker 2:

I think the first one would be ronan agara. I think he obviously had a great, you know, career in sport and there was kind of towards the end well it's towards the start he had that battle with um, what was the guy from ulster? Was it humphries or?

Speaker 2:

yeah, and then towards towards the end it was johnny sexton, so, and then obviously he's gone on to uh, great things coaching. So yeah, I'd have love to have um, have dinner with him. Um, I think you kind of have to pick the brain of Taylor Swift, like what she's doing, you know, going around nonstop on this on this worldwide tour. It would be great just to kind of see you know how involved is she. Is this her or is this, you know, a huge team behind the scenes kind of pushing her out to do it all? And then the third one, god, maybe Zelensky, just to kind of, you know, chat to him about, like the craziness that's going on and just, yeah, see what he has to kind of say about all that.

Speaker 1:

Okay, they're probably all a bit busy at the moment.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I imagine We'll see what we can do. You know the appeal of.

Speaker 1:

Galway, I'm sure would drag them out of wherever they are. Yeah, you know the appeal of Galway, I'm sure would would drag them out wherever they are. Yeah, and if the wine was to flow and a sing song was to start. Well, ms Swift would be a good one to actually have at the table anyway. Um, as I said, it's been a real pleasure chatting to you. Um, the very best of luck with the commission and with life and with finding that new music that you're looking for as well.

Speaker 2:

Thanks very much thank you so much it was great to chat with afric.

Speaker 1:

Thank you to her for taking the time. Thank you to you for listening in. We've got events coming up with our sport for business pwc 30 under 30 or gathering together in person for the first time and with a special breakfast event. Looking ahead to the League of Ireland, we've got a business of golf event, and we will shortly be releasing details of our women in sport, sport for social good and children in sport events later on in this calendar year. For now, though, thank you again for taking the time. No-transcript. No-transcript. Music, music, music, music Music. Thank you.

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