Gillick Named as Irish Team Captain for European Athletics Team Champs

Athletics Ireland is pleased to announce Irish Olympians that David Gillick (DSD AC) and Joanne Cuddihy (Kilkenny City Harriers) have been named as the Men’s and Women’s Team Captains for the prestigious European Athletics Team Championships 1st League event taking place in The Morton Stadium Santry, Dublin on the weekend of June 22/23rd.

Both Gillick and Cuddihy are pleased to have been asked up for this important team-building role and were delighted to accept the opportunity to utilise their vast competition experience with Ireland’s latest European Athletics Team. Gillick and Cuddihy have competed for Ireland in this exciting and challenging team event on a number of occasions, with Joanne first in Tallinn in 2002 and David in 2003 in Aarhus, both in the European Cup event as it was known then. Cuddihy finished second for Ireland in the Team Championships over 400m in 2009. Read more

RTÉ announce the eight personalities taking part in Celebrity Masterchef

RTÉ is delighted to announce the line up for the new summer series of Celebrity MasterChef.

The eight celebrities who will be donning the signature white and orange MasterChef aprons this July will be:

1. 1. Writer and comic actor Gary Cooke
2. 2. Writer and broadcaster Maia Dunphy
3. 3. Athlete David Gillick
4. 4. National Lottery presenter Kamal Ibrahim
5. 5. Former model and columnist Yvonne Keating
6. 6. RTÉ newcaster Aengus Mac Grianna
7. 7. RTÉ sports presenter Tracy Piggott
8. 8. Irish Times Consumer Affairs Correspondent Conor Pope

Michelin-starred chef Dylan McGrath and top restaurateur Nick Munier will return to screens to put the eight celebrities through their paces in a series of master classes and challenges.

Speaking about the new series Dylan McGrath said: “I am very excited about the first Celebrity MasterChef series. We have such a broad selection of celebrities who are professionals in their own right using their love of food and their competitive passion to win, which I think will make for a great competition. I am really interested to see who breaks away from the pack and takes the first ever title of Celebrity MasterChef.”

Nick Munier said: “I’m over the moon that we are coming back for a third series of MasterChef and putting our eight celebrities through their paces. I'm hoping to see passion, skill, common sense and a good humoured chef. We have a group of celebrities that we think have what it takes to come out of their comfort zone and rise to the challenge to take the title of Celebrity MasterChef.”

Grainne McAleer, RTÉ Head of Lifestyle and Formats said: “I’m thrilled to see this celebrity version of MasterChef coming to our screens this summer. I know that Irish viewers will enjoy the cut and thrust of the antics in the kitchen and the camaraderie between the eight chefs. I believe it will be very revealing to see certain personalities unfold in new circumstances away from the situations that the Irish public are used to thinking of them in. Viewers will be treated to an array of emotional highs and lows, a mix of amazing culinary tips with a dash of competition all under the watchful eyes of Nick and Dylan. Bon appétit! ”

Larry Bass Executive Producer and CEO, Screentime ShinAwiL Ltd. said, “Screentime ShinAwiL are delighted to introduce an Irish audience to a very entertaining strand of the global hit MasterChef, Celebrity MasterChef will include all that is great about MasterChef in terms of quality with the added dimension of a celebrity cast that are out to impress Dylan and Nick like their careers depend on it, it will be must see TV."

Over six weeks these eight celebrities will be put through a series of intense tasks and challenges to test their culinary talent and skill as they try to impress the MasterChef Ireland judges, Nick Munier and Dylan McGrath. Contestants will be eliminated at different stages throughout the series until there is one winner who will be crowned the first Celebrity MasterChef Ireland Champion 2013.

The series will run for six weeks from July on RTÉ One.

Amateur chefs with aspirations to compete in the third series of MasterChef Ireland should keep an eye on local and national press in the coming weeks for details on the upcoming application process.

It feels as if you’ve been cast aside

He knew it was coming, but that didn’t make the blow any easier to take.

David Gillick switched on his computer in his Canberra apartment on Thursday to check the headlines at home.

And there it was in black and white — ‘Gillick loses funding’.

When the latest figures for the carding scheme were revealed, Gillick was one of several high-profile athletes to be cut adrift.

He came close to quitting athletics last summer after two injury-ravaged seasons ensured he’d miss the Olympics.

But he feels he can still rediscover the form that made him the only Irishman in history to run under 45 seconds for 400m.

“With my injuries and not competing properly over the last two seasons, the writing was on the wall for me,” he said.

“I’ve never taken the funding for granted. I’ve always believed that you have to hit certain criteria.

“I knew since last November that Athletics Ireland weren’t going to put me forward for funding.

“If I’m honest, it’s more a blow to my pride than anything else.

“I’d been funded for 10 years. Not to be put forward — it feels as if you’ve been cast aside.”

The grants from the Irish Sports Council are tax free, so Gillick’s income has taken a serious hit. Read more

David Gillick opens up about his Olympics heartbreak

Irish 400 metre athlete David Gillick chats to Ger Gilroy about how he dealt with missing London 2012 through injury. He also reveals how one of his motivational speeches helped inspire someone to recover from a stroke at a time when Gillick was dealing with his own injury demons. And he also took time out to talk about his Movember attempt. Judging from the photo below it was an impressive effort but the handlebar is no longer a fixture on his face.

Doing the TV work made me want to get back racing

It was on June 11 in Moscow that David Gillick decided he’d had enough.He’d just finished last in the 400m at a meet in the Luzhniki Stadium, in a time nearly four seconds slower than his Irish record. Gillick knew, after two injury ravaged seasons, that his dream of competing at the London Olympics was over. And he was ready to hang up his spikes for good. “I’d missed so much that it just got to the point where I was just going to have to run,’’ he explained. “So I did one training session on a Tuesday and went ‘right, I have to race’. “I went to Italy and raced shockingly bad, but I knew it was going to go that way because I’d done no work. Read more

It's Not The Taking Part - Featuring David Gillick

Eight Athletes - Eight Journeys - One Destination.

The trials and tribulations of eight of Ireland’s Olympic hopefuls as they battle against rivals, injury, money problems, inadequate facilities, the clock, the selectors and overwhelming odds for the chance to compete on the ultimate stage.

Two-time European indoor champion David Gillick will anchor the Irish men's 4x400 relay team at next week's European Championships in Helsinki. His inclusion caused some surprise, considering the DSD star is only just back racing after an 18-month lay-off with a recurring calf injury and is still chasing the all-important Olympic 400m qualifying time. His injury setbacks meant Gillick had not qualified individually for the Europeans and, with July 8 the Olympic qualification deadline, he is fast running out of racing opportunities. Read more

One Irish athlete who has been very unlucky with injuries in recent times is 400m star, David Gillick. The 2005 and 2007 European Athletics Indoor Champion at 400m suffered a calf injury which prematurely brought an end to his 2011 season. He has been training hard of late at his Loughborough base and has his sights well and truly set on a medal at the 2012 European Athletics Championships in Helsinki, 27 June – 1 July. And of course to a qualifying time for the London Olympics. But first the Europeans. Read more

Anyone caught up in the Olympic countdown can only take it one day at a time, and not even the more commercial reminders – only 150 days to go! – can make London seem any greater a priority than it already is. That’s not saying there wasn’t some fresh anticipation when three Irish hopefuls described their final movements towards Friday, July 27th, a timely reminder, perhaps, that D-Day itself is fast approaching. Read more

David Gillick, Ireland's two-time European indoor 400m champion, insists that his failure to make the Olympic qualifying standard last year will not put additional pressure on him to step up to the mark this season. Read more

Gillick skipping 'indoors' to focus on Olympic bid

DAVID Gillick is skipping indoor racing this season, despite previously using it as a launch pad for some of his best summer performances. Read more

A small number of Irish athletes will feel their prospects of qualifying for the London Olympics next year have been improved after the IAAF yesterday announced amended standards for some events. Read more

Athlete David Gillick chats to Ryan Tubridy