A listener poll spanning the month of June on WLR has decided that John O’Shea is Waterford’s Greatest Sporting Hero.

John was in attendance at the WLR Broadcast Centre this afternoon, Friday July 25th with his wife Yvonne, mother Mary and his kids Alfie, Ruby and Penny to accept his award – a beautiful Waterford Crystal trophy.

He said that “it’s a fantastic honour, I’ve always been proud to represent Waterford all around the world, especially when I know the depth of talent that Waterford has in such a variety of sports – just to be in the mix was a great honour and to come out on top is very special.”

He went on to say that when it comes to Waterford sport “we need to give ourselves a pat on the back – but in particular, give the unsung heroes a pat on the back – the people who do the coaching, the parents who provide the support to the kids to give them a chance to go on and succeed at their chosen sport and obviously for all the different support groups on clubs that go on behind the scenes.”

The competition was last run 15 years ago when O'Shea scored the fourth goal by chipping Arsenal goalkeeper Manuel Almunia from the edge of the 18-yard box. At that time, Carrick-On-Suir cyclist Sean Kelly won the award having just pipped Olympic silver medallist John Treacy.

This year, John was faced with a strong competition in hurlers Ken McGrath, John Keane and John Mullane, former Ireland Rugby Captain Niamh Briggs, Olympian John Tracy, Camogie All-Star Beth Carton, Olympian Thomas Barr and boxer Neil Gough.

Having won 14 trophies while at Manchester United – 5 Premier Leagues, 1 FA Cup, 1 Champions League, 2 Football League Cups and 4 Community Shields – John is one of the most successful soccer players Ireland has produced.

He has been capped for Ireland 118 times and played for Man United 393 times playing in all positions in the defensive line as well as in midfield, averaging 45 games per season across ten years. Only two Irishmen have won the Premier League more times than him – Roy Keane and Dennis Irwin.

He played in some of the greatest Manchester United teams in Ferguson's reign as manager – playing alongside the likes of Ronaldo, Beckham, Keane, Scholes and more.

Des Whelan (Managing Director of WLR) has thanked all who voted in the poll to find Waterford's Greatest Sporting Hero. He went on to pay tribute to John and his outstanding list of achievements and honours throughout his career – but also for being such a great role model for the young people of Waterford and as an ambassador for the county.

Des thanked the sponsor Flahavan’s who supported the campaign from the start.

We are delighted to announce the launch of Smovey Health Online School

We will be bringing you trainings, fitness classes, Rehab Classes, Parkinson's Courses and so much more through this easy to use platform complete them in your own time and in the comfort of your own home without the worry of social distancing, mask and Covid-19. 

https://smoveyhealth.thinkific.com/enroll/590449

smoveyMED Online Training

We are thrilled to have smoveyMED Online Training up and running, this is the first time and only way you can complete smoveyMED training online. 

If you have wanted to bring the benefits of smoveyMED to your clients or business but haven't been able to travel here for the trainings then this is perfect for you, complete it in your own time and in the comfort of your office or home and to celebrate the launch we are offering a discount price of

€99.00 until midnight Thursday
€199 until midnight Sunday
€249 full price from Monday

Join the smoveyMED family that is growing throughout the world and receive smoveyMED at a discounted price.

You must be a healthcare professional and have a set of smoveys to complete the training

Follow the link to access this great offer 

https://smoveyhealth.thinkific.com/enroll/590449

Smovey Health Exercise Classes

We are missing our live classes so much but we are happy to announce we now have them up online for you.

With 16 weeks of different exercise classes ranging from beginners to intermediate and videos and information on how to massage with smovey this is the perfect course to keep up your fitness, improve your balance, coordination and strength

Waterford Castle Hotel & Golf Resort has had another successful year at the Irish Hotel Awards, winning Golf Hotel of the Year, Wedding Planner of the Year, Castle Hotel of the Year Munster and a Great Place to Stay Quality Award for 2020.

This year’s success builds upon last year, when the Resort was named Luxury Hotel of the Year and Castle Hotel of the Year, among others. CEO Mr Seamus Walsh congratulated his team for their continued passion, positivity, hard work and commitment.

The Irish Hotel Awards were due to be held earlier this year, however the Resort was notified of the awards shortly before re-opening at the end of June. The accolades are a great boost for the Resort, and are indicative of the exceptional places to stay, eat and visit in County Waterford.

Getting back to work after lockdown is a relief for all businesses.

However, as your business continues to build and get back to pre-lockdown operating levels, you need to constantly monitor and review your workplace health & safety practices. Why? Because they need to remain compliant with Government measures, in-line with your business needs and most importantly – effective.

To ensure you maintain a workplace that complies with mandatory measures and is safe for everyone, we’re hosting a free Adjusting to the ‘New Normal’ webinar on Thursday 23rd July at 11am.

This webinar will cover and include advice on:

- Reviewing and testing existing H&S practises

- Mask etiquette based on new restrictions

- Cross-contamination at workplace

- Cleaning requirements and expectations

- Transport to work

- Contact tracing forms & GDPR

The advice provided in this webinar will not only outline how to maintain Protocol compliant practices, but also give you confidence and peace of mind going forward.

After all, as COVID-19 is here for the long run, your Health & Safety practices should be too.

Register: https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/adjusting-to-the-new-normal-chambers-ireland-tickets-114099925950

October 9th to 11th 2020

The 2020 Run and Walk for Life will be like no other as the Solas Cancer Support Centre makes plans for their main annual fundraiser. This year the annual fundraiser will be a virtual one and the message is that it’s YOUR Run and Walk for Life-YOUR way. Participants get to choose their distance, their route, their day and their time in undertaking their own challenge.

Barry Monaghan, Acting Chair, explains what this event means to the charity: ‘With no Government funding in 2019 the charity was 96% funded by public donations and this huge community effort allows us to sustain the service each year. We were very proud to have been able to support a record number of 964 clients in 2019 calendar year. Unfortunately our face to face work stopped in line with government guidelines in mid-March and at the same time all our planned fundraising events were also cancelled. 2020 will be a challenging year for us financially and we hope that we can count on the support we have received for the Run and Walk for Life over the last 13 years’.

Manager Tracy McDaid explains about the huge support received each year from the event sponsors ‘This year we are extremely thankful to our event partners- UPMC Whitfield Hospital and Beat. Beat is a long-time sponsor and friend and with UPMC joining us as headline sponsor for their first year we offer them a warm welcome- it’s great to have you on board!’

Attending the launch Ms. Trish Lane, General Manager of UPMC Whitfield Hospital said “UPMC is delighted to partner yet again with the Solas Cancer Support Centre. For over a decade Solas service users often have attended UPMC Whitfield Hospital for oncology treatment and as such our continuing partnership with Solas ensures these clients receive the holistic care required during and after their cancer journey” Trish concluded.

Beat is pleased to be involved again this year and CEO Gabrielle Cummins explains more:

“The last few months have been challenging for all of us. From a Beat perspective, the pandemic has taught us just how important a role radio plays in the lives of our listeners.  Each of our 165,000 weekly listeners across the five counties of the South East knows someone who has been affected by cancer. We’d like to help get the Solas team’s important message out there that they’re back open & ready to serve as many clients as possible.”

This year the organisers hopes to encourage family and friends all over the world who haven’t been able to make it back to Waterford this year due to travel restrictions to take part in October. The aim this year is to see the iconic orange UPMC sponsored t-shirts in Sydney, Shanghai, San Francisco or wherever the Waterford diaspora might take part in the 2020 event.

For online registration visit www.solascentre.ie. The registration fee is €25 per adult and €15 per child and this fee includes the iconic orange t-shirt.

The Solas Cancer Support Centre reopened its doors on Monday 20th July in Waterford City and in Dungarvan. In line with guidelines around COVID 19 the charity offers a range of supports including Counselling and Art Psychotherapy, Information and printed booklets along with on-line wellness programs. For enquiries please call the Solas Cancer Support Centre on 051 304604 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

CC Solicitors (Colleen Cleary, Regan O’Driscoll and Claire Dawson) will be on a free webinar on Wednesday July 15, 2020 at 11:00 AM - 11:45 AM BST, with Legal Island discussing some of the pitfalls in redundancy selection with particular focus on how to avoid discrimination in the redundancy selection process.

Please feel free to register at https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/6750301413617722895?source=CC+Sols to secure your attendance.

Previous podcasts are available to listen at www.ccsolicitors.ie

Cantec have some great solutions to minimise contact with your printer and prevent possible infection in the workplace......

https://www.cantecireland.ie/helping-you-return-to-a-safe-working-environment-through-device-touchpoint-awareness/

The seventy acres Mount Congreve Gardens in Waterford have launched a brand new seasonal Nature Trail for children.

The trail offers families an abundance of nature to explore and to ensure that younger visitors engage with the flora and fauna on offer and has been created offering the little ones 15 different questions and challenges as they meander the walking trails amongst the world-famous gardens located just outside Waterford City.

The new looped Nature Trail walk will keep everyone happy, with a buggy-friendly path smaller tots can snooze while older ones enjoy the series of questions for them to solve along the way. In total, the Nature Trail is a 1.5km walk and can be completed in approximately 40 minutes. The little ones can fill in their nature trail answers on the back of their map along the way in order to complete the challenge.

The gardens at Mount Congreve consist of intensively planted woodland gardens, a four-acre walled garden with 16 km of walking trails. The gardens are located 10 minutes from Waterford City Centre overlooking the majestic River Suir.

The new Nature Trail is included in the Mount Congreve Gardens ticket price. The gardens are open from Tuesday to Sunday from 11 am to 5.30 pm. Last entry to the gardens at 4.00 pm. Tickets must be booked in advance, for further details see www.mountcongreve.com