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Dublin GAA star Philly McMahon delivers virtual wellness talk for Mercury staff
Dublin GAA star Philly McMahon delivers virtual wellness talk for Mercury staff 

Dublin GAA star Philly McMahon delivers virtual wellness talk for Mercury staff

Author: Cormac Byrne  /  23rd Apr, 2020  /  News, Responsible Business

Dublin GAA star Philly McMahon recently provided Mercury staff with a fascinating ‘Half-time Team Talk’, as he spoke about the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The event was streamed live over Microsoft Teams and was hosted in partnership with PepTalk, as part of Mercury’s Wellness initiative for April, organised by its Diversity & Inclusion committee.

Philly spoke at lengths about his incredible playing career and provided our staff with tips on fitness, motivation and on how best to overcome adverse situations.

The 7 time All-Ireland winner also discussed the disruptions that COVID-19 has had on his own health food business, BeDo7, revealing how he is working tirelessly to keep his business alive during the pandemic.

Philly said: “Unfortunately I have five full time staff members and they had to take the COVID-19 payment – including myself.

“I’m quite busy at the moment, trying to keep my business alive. We still have rent, service charges and overheads to pay.”

The Dublin defender says that people should use the COVID-19 pandemic as a time to build up good habits and to add structure to their lives.

He said: “Some of my Gym members have been struggling with long-term results due to time constraints, I’m trying to get into their head now that they no longer that excuse. Use this to develop a structure that develops you. Look at failings and choice by choice get rid of the things that don’t work for you and develop a structure that works for you.”

In 2017, Philly McMahon released his autobiography titled, ‘The Choice’, with a strong emphasis on the story of his older brother John, who died as a result of an ongoing battle with drug addiction.

The Ballymun native told Mercury staff how John’s death gave him a purpose in life which led to his involvement in a number of charities and initiatives.

He said: “When John passed away I developed a purpose in life. To challenge social inequality, to go after addiction and to tackle the scourge type topics in society. When I’m dead and gone what am I going to be remembered for? Is it going to be how many medals I won for Dublin? Not really, that’s certainly a part of it, but my big purpose in life is to use sport as a platform to help others.

“I recently set up a charity called Half-time Talk to help at risk youths. These youths have essentially gone down the wrong pathway in life and I’m hoping to try and get them back on the straight and narrow through education and giving them life skills on sport and business.”

Christie Idemudia, Human Resources Business Partner at Mercury, said: “I want to thank Philly for sharing his inspirational stories with our staff, and I hope that many of us will take note of his advice and will draw positives from this talk. I also want to thank PepTalk for organizing this fantastic event.”

 

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