Summer 2012: How was it for you?

A selection of people reflect on their summer experiences, from dancing in the Olympics opening ceremony or working at Cern during the Higgs boson discovery, to opening a business or driving to Mongolia, writes SIMON TIERNEY

CLODAGH McGUIRK

Danced in the Olympics opening ceremony

“This has, without a doubt, been the most fun and most hectic summer of my life,” says 30-year-old Clodagh McGuirk, from Clonakilty, Co Cork. Not only did she get married in May but she was also a dancer in the 1960s section of Danny Boyle’s Olympics opening ceremony, performing to a stadium of 80,000 people and a global TV audience of roughly 900 million.

McGuirk, who lives in Hackney in London, rehearsed for months with the other cast members. Keeping the details of the show a secret was one of the hardest aspects of the experience. “It nearly killed me,” she says. “I was dying to tell people all about it but I didn’t want to spoil the surprise.”

The performers rehearsed every weekend from April until June and then it increased significantly until the night itself. “It was a massive commitment. Evening rehearsals were five hours, full-day rehearsals were up to 12 hours.”

Now that she can sit back and reminisce about her summer, she says, “There was such a great mix of people involved, of all nationalities. I did feel that I was representing Ireland in some small way, and I was very proud of that.”

DR RONAN McNULTY

Worked at Cern during the Higgs Boson discovery

The discovery of the Higgs boson in July was one of the most important scientific revelations of recent years. Dr Ronan McNulty, a particle physicist at UCD, was working on one of the experiments at Cern, on the outskirts of Geneva, when the announcement was made.

“The auditorium, where the results were presented, was absolutely packed out,” he says. “As soon as people heard it was going to happen, they started to queue. It was like some music festival. The students working at Cern for the summer brought their sleeping bags and tents and camped out overnight.”

McNulty has been searching for the Higgs, on different experiments at Cern, for about 20 years. Although his experiment was not the one which found it, the work that he and his colleagues have done has made an important contribution. “Perverse as it may sound, not finding the Higgs at our experiment is also important in telling us how the particle behaves.”

The discovery of the Higgs boson completes a theory which scientists have been working on for decades, that explains the role of mass in the universe. “To be a part of that is a real thrill, it’s the reason why I decided to do physics as a career . . . to understand what the universe is about . . . it’s a privilege to be part of it”.

JERRY SMITH:

Worked as part of the Baltimore fin whale rescue effort

“I think it was Tuesday morning [August 14th], that first morning it came in. About 7 o’clock, someone gave me a call.” Jerry Smith, a diver who runs Aquaventures, was the man sent underwater to help remove an errant fin whale from Baltimore Harbour.

Eighteen metres in length and weighing in at around 40 tonnes, this is the second-largest mammal on the planet. It is highly unusual for a creature of this magnitude to stray into a harbour. Smith believes that it was attempting to find shallow water because it was sick. Like humans, whales have a fear of drowning.

“Once it had died . . . they knew they were going to have to remove it,” he says. No diver could go down before it died, because “one flick of its tail [and] you would be into the harbour wall and squashed”.

Smith’s task was to fit a five-metre-long strap to the whale’s tail, so that it could be towed away. He says it was a “saddening” experience.

“These things are called the greyhounds of the ocean . . . they’re very, very fast. It’s a great pity . . . this was just lying there”.

GERRY GODLEY

Organiser of the Down with Jazz festival

“Music borrowed from the savages of Africa by the anti-God society, with the object of destroying morals and religion.” This is how Fr Peter Conefrey described jazz music during the infamous Anti-Jazz Campaign in Leitrim in 1934.

Gerry Godley, artistic director of the Improvised Music Company and the director of the new Down with Jazz event, which took place this summer in Temple Bar, used these sentiments as his starting point for the festival.

“The events that happened back then absolutely inform our attitudes now,” he says. “I don’t think we’re good with abstract expression in Ireland, abstract forms of theatre or abstract painting or jazz music. We often approach them with a certain degree of suspicion.”

With bands such as Rhombus and Redivider, Godley has attempted to address this cultural chasm and bring the public and these groups closer together.

How does he feel about it, personally? “It feels really good. I do feel that things like this are part of the colour of the city. I was cycling in today . . . and when the sun is shining and Dubliners are out and they’re in a good mood, this is a really great place and it feels very nice to play a little part in that, however modest.”

IMOGEN DOEL

Worked on TV show Misfits

“I’ll never forget stepping on to set for the first time. It was such a rush,” says Irish actress Imogen Doel. From Dublin and living in London, Doel recently guest-starred in the hit E4 comedy drama Misfits.

The show, which has garnered critical and popular acclaim, is about a group of young offenders who acquire superpowers. This was Doel’s first television show, having worked previously with a number of theatre companies, including the Royal Court and the Royal Shakespeare Company.

“I was really excited, as it’s one of my favourite things to watch on TV, and a little nervous, as I know how popular the programme is,” she says.

“My experiences always tell me people love the Irish,” she says. “Misfits is a show that champions a variety of accents so there was a colourful mix on set and I was just another, thrown in the mix.”

The experience has clearly made her hungry for more work in this area. “I am keen to learn more and if my experience on Misfits is anything to go by, I just can’t wait.”

Series four of Misfits will air on E4 later in the year

DANIEL O’HAIRE

Travelled to see Ireland play in Euro 2012

Thousands of Irish fans flocked to Poland for the European Championship this summer. While this journey was of relative ease for many, it was an enormous challenge for one man in particular.

Thirty-year-old Finglas native Daniel O’Haire was stabbed in the neck nine years ago, leaving him brain-damaged and in a wheelchair. With the help of his mother Liz, her partner David Young, and a team of helpers, O’Haire took the leap and made it to Poland, and one of his dreams became a reality.

Young acquired a van and kitted it out with a hospital bed, a kitchen and toilet facilities. Nurses were brought to help care for O’Haire on the arduous trip across eight countries. Funding was raised from a variety of sources, such as fitting people’s carpets, sponsorship and Liz and David’s personal contributions.

While Young admits that it “took an awful lot out of us”, the pleasure that Daniel got from the effort was immeasurable. “It was just unbelievable,” he says, ”the smile on his face from ear to ear when we got to Poland”.

DONALD MORRISSY

Set up a new business

In the current economic climate, opening a restaurant is a brave move. Donald Morrissy opened his new eatery, Oysters, in June. “I knew opening up a restaurant, I was going to find it a little more difficult than I would have a few years previous. But I’m a firm believer that if you have a product and a service that is good value for money . . . customers will appreciate that,” he says.

Morrissy packed up his job in the hotel industry and did some market research. He realised that Cork city didn’t have a dedicated seafood restaurant. The bank liked his pitch and he got the finances.

“It has been stressful,” he says, but he is an optimist. “The feedback . . . has been very, very good, so I know I’ve made the right choice.”

How did he feel after the crucial opening night? “I was proud. I was very happy in myself that I had decided to take the jump.”

Morrissy clearly has more energy than is needed to crack open a lobster. “[This has been] one of the most interesting summers I’ve had so far, it’s been fun, it’s been exciting. I’d do it again, absolutely.”

Oysters is at Lapps Quay, Cork, oysters.ie

PJ FANNING

Drove to Mongolia

How would you feel about driving a Fiat Punto for 10,000 miles, across 24 countries, in just four weeks? This is how PJ Fanning spent his summer holidays this year, as he and his two friends embarked on the daring Mongol Rally, the annual trans-continental charity road race.

“It’s a challenge more so than a holiday,” says the 39-year-old software developer from Kilkenny. Fanning and team set off from London and took in “more countries than you could stuff in the Eurovision”.

“There’s only a starting point and an end point. The route is up to you. I’ve been looking to do this event for so many years and [the fact that] I finally got to do it is an achievement.”

The trip also raised several thousand euro for the Lotus Children’s Centre in Mongolia and the Bone Marrow for Leukaemia Trust in Ireland, adding purpose to the team’s accomplishment.

To donate, visit transcontinental.ie