DCU Voices

2021 EDITION 51 “I had a load of paperwork, around half a metre high. It was funny – going from campus and being with my friends to then just being in this state room discussing lofty Council of State issues. It’s funny how life goes like that.” That life is going on at all for Dáraine is a remarkable story. She defied the medical odds after contracting an aggressive strain of meningitis aged 16 and she was given the last rites following a series of complications, including septicemia. The medics informed her family that she had less than a 10pc chance of survival. Her two brothers were brought in to say their final goodbyes. Daráine battled through, but lost her legs and fingers. After a full year recovering in hospital, she learned how to walk again with prosthetic limbs and returned to school. And in her darkest hour, life at DCU appeared on the horizon. “I was at a very bleak stage of my hospital stay – I was just after having my legs amputated and Seonaid Dunne came to visit me,” she recalls of those days back in 2001. Seonaid had lost two legs and an arm in a fire and the then third year student at DCU filled Daráine with hope that there was life after hospital. “She was just regaling me with all these stories of being in DCU. She was saying, ‘Oh I had a big night out last night’, and I stopped and said, ‘Oh my God, can you go to nightclubs?’ She said ‘of course, you just learn to do everything again’. It was meeting her that gave me the confidence to do things and those stories of DCU were the first thing that sparked my interest in the college.” In 2001, Dáraine’s courage in fighting her illness was recognised with an Irish Person of the Year Award, and she began life in Glasnevin the following year. Moving to campus was a big move for both her and her family. “In school everyone knew my story. But going into DCU, it was the first time I was meeting people who didn’t know anything about what I had gone through. It was scary but it was the best thing I ever did as it gave me confidence in myself and my own ability. And the disability service in DCU was fantastic. I was never on my own.” The Meath woman started working for RTE in 2006. Since then she has hosted a variety of programmes and has co- hosted RTE’s coverage of the Rio Paralympic Games. She currently works as an Irish language reporter on the Scannal series. However, her big break came across the water when she was chosen by Channel 4 to co-host its 2012 London Paralympics’ coverage. It was a breakthrough moment on many levels. “It wasn’t just about being on television to millions of people; it was about what the Paralympics were doing that year,” says the mother- of-two. It really became a seminal year in terms of the growth of the Paralympics. There were packed out stadiums at events which would have struggled to sell even a few thousand tickets ten years previous. It was great to be involved.” Prior to her illness, Dáraine was a keen runner while summer Sundays were often spent pitchside with her father Liam, who served as GAA Director General for 29 years. And while Dáraine’s disability ended her sporting ambitions – “I tried running blades , they didn’t work for me” – being in front of the camera brought the buzz back again. “I co-presented with Olympic gold medalist Jonathan Edwards on the Paralympics. He says the closest he has ever gotten to competing in sport in the top level was working in broadcasting at the highest level. I thought that was really interesting. “I worked on two Invictus Games with the BBC. One evening, I was presenting live with Gabby Logan and it was a real pinch-me moment as I was such a fan of hers. But they were saying into my earpiece, ‘EastEnders is wrapping in 15 seconds – get ready to go live” and I was thinking, ‘this is mad’, how many million people watch EastEnders? It was an incredible feeling.” Dáraine received an Outstanding Achievement Award at the 2020 DCU Alumni Awards. However, she doesn’t see herself as a role model. “I don’t think you can ever be a role model, but I do think if you get a chance to have a platform to speak about certain things it’s important to take it. It has always been important for me to speak out about meningitis awareness, vaccine awareness and everything connected to disability,” she says. “You’re always living a life having to make adjustments. You must be ok with not doing everything you once did or want to do. Anytime you get bogged down in the negative, remind yourself of all the good things you have going for you too. There’s no reason you can’t have as good a life as you otherwise would have had.” “I don’t think you can ever be a rolemodel, but I do think if you get a chance to have a platform to speak about certain things it’s important to take it. It has always been important for me to speak out about meningitis awareness, vaccine awareness and everything connected to disability.”