RTE star Mary Kennedy has opened up about going to counselling for her mental health and said despite officially retiring this year, she has no plans to slow down.
The 64-year-old Nationwide presenter is set to hang up her mic this September but is hopeful it’s not the end of her broadcasting career.
When quizzed about her impending retirement she said: “Officially yes”, adding: “I’d love to stay but it’s up to RTE if I go or not. All I can say is that I love what I do and I would love it to continue.”
Every few weeks, Mary attends a counsellor and explains the importance of quashing the mental health taboo.
She said: “I believe it’s essential to go to a counsellor when you are in a crisis but I also think it’s important to continue going to counselling when you’re feeling well.
“It’s nice to maintain that mental health, I don’t understand this taboo about anything like that.
“In my books I’ve covered what some might see as taboo subjects like the menopause, loneliness and most recently, the issue of mental health and burnout.
“When you get to a certain age, as I have, I feel what’s the point in opening your mouth and saying stuff if it’s not true? What’s the point in pretending to be something that you are not?”
Mary, who has long been considered a national treasure on telly, divorced journalist Ronan Foster in 2005 and said
it’s important to reach out in times of loneliness.
Speaking to the RTE Guide, she said: “You can’t know happiness deeply unless you know the other side as well. It’s also about being kind to yourself and reaching out.
“In the past I have been guilty of not reaching out when I’ve felt low or lonely.
“My friends might read in an interview and say ‘All you had to do was lift the phone’ but that takes courage as well. So my advice to people is to talk with a friend in that moment and just go for it.
“Again that is all about embracing your vulnerability and we are all vulnerable in some way.”
The mom-of-four became a grandmother for the first time last April when her daughter Ava gave birth to baby Patrick.
She said: “It’s unbelievable, I was afraid when it coming up to the time of the birth, thinking what if I don’t feel all those emotions?
“But those feelings grow and grow. Now every morning I ask them to send more photographs of him.
“I babysat him for the first time on my own recently. He was an angel, he went to bed at 9.15pm and that was the last I saw of him.”
