The part Kenny show on news talk with Marter private network during current restrictions. Don't ignore your health concerns. Our expert team is ready to help. Now, for the past year, we've been talking more than ever about minding our health as we find ourselves in the middle of the pandemic.

However, with covid-19 becoming the main topic of discussion in our everyday lives, is there a chance that we may choose to ignore other health complications and not get checked during lockdown? Well, in anticipation of World Cancer Day, which is tomorrow, the 4th of February, we are joined by broadcaster and ambassador for the Irish Cancer Society, Marty Morrissey. Marty, good morning and welcome. Good morning, person.

Lovely to speak to you on your program. Yeah, we saw each other briefly the other day in passing, and I haven't seen you for ages before that, so it's good to know you're alive. Well, the latest I was delighted to lose the horn and surprise Pat Kenny. I got a great satisfaction out of it, you know, so it did surprise me.

Tell me tell me this, Marty, and your involvement with the Irish Cancer Society, what prompted it?

Well, I suppose to be honest with you, I'm privileged and honored to be the ambassador this year because I think all of us have in some way been been touched by cancer, either by family, friends, neighbors or whatever. And cancer, unfortunately, has no barriers to any age. And I was deeply affected by friends of mine, colleagues of mine, Shirley Murphy, Shirley Healy and her and her husband, Paul, who lost their beautiful daughter, Jordan, just about three, four weeks ago, January 4th.

She was diagnosed with brain cancer in October 2019, and she was only 22 years of age, was kind, generous, loving. She was just a very special young lady. And I suppose the American society came along. I thought of Jordan and I said, you know what? If I can help in any way, in any shape or form to be an ambassador for the Irish Cancer Society and to promote Daffodil Day, which has always been a major promotion venture.

And obviously it's a different world. We now live in definitely as much March 26. But I think I do know about you, but I'm not the best for going to the doctor. And I know that you put it on the long finger and I certainly can't. But it is not the right thing to do. People are more likely, for instance, to survive cancer if it's found early. And I found it a staggering statistic that, you know, during lockdown in March, June last year, that only one in four people attended the doctor a hospital appointment because they were just concerned with everything that was going on.

So I just wanted to encourage people to go to their doctor. They are their best friends. They would be happy to see them. And if they're anywhere hesitant, then they should ring. The Irish cancer support line, which is an easy number to remember, is in hundreds, 200, 700, because basically the message that we're promoting over the next two days, starting with you, Pat, actually and indeed across the board, is that your health matters?

And to not be afraid, go to your doctor and check everything else.

Now, people are nervous about going to doctors surgeries these days, but anyone who has had to go in for any reason and don't forget, many of us are going to have to go in to get vaccinated anyway, so we might as well prepare ourselves for that experience. The doctors will be running a very tight show.

There'll be no waiting room and loads of people hanging around.

You might be out in your car or out of the side of the road waiting for that call on your mobile phone. It's your turn now. You go in and the places, you know, wash down and the windows are open, all the rest of it, it'll be fine.

But if even that's too much for you, you can always give them a ring and they'll do a consultation on the telephone.

Yes, absolutely. I mean, they're there for you. They are your friends and maybe the Irish Cancer Society, you, me personally. But I also was one of those people that put things on the long fingers. But it is the support is there for us. We should have all of us. I know get my my my bloods done regularly. And the care and attention is just fantastic. And the medical people, the frontline people, they have been our heroes, Pat, as you know.

But they're also there. And we should it's not just college, but I mean, this is something we just need people to encourage people and ask them, look, if you're concerned, if you're worried, don't be worried. Please just go to the support line, 800, 200, 700, or go to your doctor.

Well, Marty, it's a very telling message and timely message to tomorrow being World Cancer Day. So everyone who has any kind of a thing that might be worrying them, you know, it could be a spot that doesn't go away on your skin somewhere, a mole that has changed whatever it might be.

And the point is, don't delay. Get onto it now. And it may well reward you by detecting something with early treatment and you'll be fine.

And that's that's if you like, the risk and reward calculation that people should make. And Marty, before I let you go, I have to ask you about commentating in an empty stadium.

What is that like for someone like you? Well, it was strange past.

I mean, like, number one, I think whatever sport it was. Get it up and running last year was a marvelous achievement, and to have the championship in my world of the year, it was it was it was just superb. And did you need to be applauded for that? And the county boards and the and the county managers and players who played in this strange environment, but to be in Cleveland Park or simply stadium protocol park and nobody there and you get excited about a great goal or point, you're saying to yourself, I'm you overstating this because there is no reaction, but you're just funny.

You kind of get used to it and you normally have a sidekick of a, quote, commentator beside you and you kind of get used to it. But it's I long for the day when I meet people again because the junior and sport is about community. It is about getting involved and being there. And to go to these venues and to have nobody there was kind of weird and strange for so long. But you know what? By the time we got to the island finals in just before Christmas, we were kind of used to it and thankful for it.

But we had it. And I know the January is normally my month off, but it even without sport for this month, it's been it's been strange, but obviously with luck and we have to remind ourselves and and hopefully that in 2021, somewhere along the line, which I think we will I think hopefully we'll have a championship later on in the summer.

And as well, Marty, you have a lockdown book that's going to come out. What are you writing?

The pass, I don't know is an honest answer. I think you should put in the word trying to write a book. Over the years, various publishers have asked me to put a couple of words together. But anyway, because of love, I said I would never get a chance again and it would distract me and keep me at home, which was the message. So I started the target is 80000 words and it's very intimidating first. So right now I'm getting there slowly but surely.

But I have a little bit of time. I was going to write a whole chapter of working with Pat that might make for a very short chapter.

Marty, Lou, thank you very much for joining us. We'll be looking out for that memoir towards the end of the year. And you'll be very welcome to come on this show and talk all about it when the time comes. But in the meantime, a broadcaster, ambassador for the Irish Cancer Society, Marty Morrissey, thank you very much for joining us.