Itās a few quid put away every week, usually for the Christmas but to be dipped into if thereās an emergency
One local woman would collect it each week and bank it so that there would also be a little interest at Christmas, i remember well being told to bring the manage over to Monica.
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Ah no. It was my wedding anniversary plus first night away with the wife since baba arrived so we agreed to meet at the oyster tavern instead. We werenāt eating until 9
Perfectly put, spot on. A real Norrie practice by all accounts
Iād say it was a working class thing, the manage and the Irish Life man were just a part of life,
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Admit it. Princess is still seething with you over the hour of power and wouldnāt allow Chocco out to play, when it was really the fault of the cork cousins and that cunt from Tipp
Donāt worry I set the record straight. Just as well you are moving to Louth!
āI forgive all those who beat me in schoolā
In his radio studio by the Lee, John Creedon caters to a growing band of global devotees. He shares his philosophy on love, forgiveness and music as healing balm
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āIām delighted when a show goes well. It helps with confidence, and I didnāt always have that.ā John Creedon on Patrickās Hill, overlooking Cork; and, below, at Bellās Field. photographs: daragh mc sweeney/provision
GRAHAM CLIFFORD
Itās just after 5pm and John Creedonās radio show is blaring out across Paramaribo, the capital of Suriname. An exile has taken to Twitter to send a message across the waves to say the sound of home, 7,000km away, is coming through loud and clear to the tip of South America.
The tunes dance out the door of the RTĆ Cork studios on to Fr Matthew Quay, before skipping along the river, where they meet the estuary and flow out to the world.
From his studio by the Lee, with a mixing desk at one end and a piano at the other, the man affectionately known as āCreedoā has been connecting the globe each weekday night, 8pm-10pm, for the past nine years.
Since moving to the evening segment of the RTĆ Radio 1 schedule, Creedon has tripled the listenership figures for this slot, and a fiercely strong and loyal listenership base has developed.
āI am at my grannyās and I donāt get nervous or scared no more. Iām amongst friends, decent folk. Iām in my Den, my bedsit,ā says Creedon as he takes his seat for another show.
āThe way I see it is that weāre all in this together. Music is powerful. Quite often itās a healing balm, and at this time of the evening people are able to really listen. A listener on the road recently described the show as a lighthouse, a beacon twinkling away in the dark.ā
Birdwatching
Earlier in the day, in his back garden on Corkās northside, a blackcap nips between branches.
āLook, see him there, behind the bird table? Beautiful,ā says Creedon, mesmerised by the birdās dexterity and poise.
āIām not generally an early riser, but every day is different. Radio is my constant companion. I like to potter in the morning, eat my porridge and look out at the birds. I could watch them for hours if only time allowed,ā he tells me in the kitchen of the home he shares with his partner, MairĆ©ad.
Creedon, a shopkeeperās son, one of 12, was born nearby. In the bosom of his native city he feels secure and proud. But he is anything but parochial.
āSometimes people in the trade seem to think youāre ābig in Corkā . . . because Iām physically based here. But to me that makes no sense. Like, artists contact me and say things like, āWeāre doing a nationwide tour and weāre playing the Opera House in Cork on May 5th, you might give it a mention,ā ā but why would I mention that concert and not a gig taking place in Donegal? I mean, I have a constituency there, too ā or a gig in the Olympia? In truth, we donāt do an events diary anyway.
āThe thing is I can do my show from Dublin and sometimes I do,ā he continues. āItās not āJohn Creedon from our Cork studiosā and I donāt play that up. Iām an Irish man as well as a Cork man. For me thatās really important.ā
Outside the Donnybrook bubble, though, heās ever busy thanks to a run of successful television series with RTĆ and through his work on TG4. Creedon has developed a reputation for combining humility with a self-confident swagger and familiarity with innovation.
āI donāt take praise too seriously, it comes before a fall and all of that. But, of course, Iām delighted when a show goes well. It helps with confidence, and I didnāt always have that.ā
We talk about love, forgiveness and the strength that it brings. āIf you donāt love everybody, I believe you donāt love anybody. Love is not selective, if itās not universal love then its merely preference.
āAll those who would have hurt me along the way or beaten me as a boy in school ā of course I forgive them ā thatās who they were then. By my 30s I came to understand and forgive them. Iām only talking for myself here. Some will say a clip around the ear never hurt anyone. Well, it did. It hurt me. Most definitely it did me harm and affected my confidence. Itās not that you condone what they did, but as a wise man once said, āForgive āem, for they know not what they doā. We have all acted out of unconsciousness along the way, but as I see it, to err is human and to forgive is divine.ā
On the day I visit word comes through that another series has been commissioned, and Creedon is buzzing.
āIt was one of my own ideas where I travel along the old main roads which have been replaced by motorways. Roads have stories and I canāt wait to get cracking on that one.ā
Hectic schedule
His schedule is somewhat hectic. He spends almost 100 nights a year in hotels while on the road, but the father and grandfather loves what he does.
As the clock nears eight, Creedon grabs his toothbrush and toothpaste and disappears into a menās room to add a shine to the fiacla. Itās a nightly ritual.
Down the line, Fergal in Dublin confirms that the news feeds, from base and Casla in Connemara, are good to go, and by the time the signature music begins, the tweets, emails and texts start flooding in. They come from Germany, Belgium, Sydney, the US, Bahrain and Kent station in Cork, from where a man sends a selfie with Gloria Hunniford. Even the artist Ron Sexsmith in Canada gets in touch.
Creedon rubs his hands together, the red on-air light illuminates and the playlist he has loosely produced during the day is added to, tweaked and changed as the show evolves.
āOkay, Maestro, a big opening please,ā demands Creedon at the top of the show as Eloise by The Damned builds in the background.
āIts Monday night and weāre just going to cruise away and leave the cares of the day behind us,ā he tells his growing band of followers.
And over two hours, peppered with tales and tonics, he sows together a patchwork musical quilt, which he carefully places around those listening.
āIāve the jukebox on shuffle tonight,ā he tells them ā and thatās just how they like it.
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he wasnāt bate hard enough
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What an absolute gent he is, i wasnāt sure if it was even possible to like him even more but thatās done it.
The alright sort of alright sorts 
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John is an alright sort.
Creedon is an awful creep.
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Terrible about that young lad in Mayfield slipping in the snow and ice and landing on his neck/back.
Life changing injuries apparently. 
He slipped while standing on a wall, taking a photo. It is indeed awful, but Jesus, cmon, a bit of care?
An awful needy creep, he reminds me of another needy Creep from Cork on TFK.
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Lovely lovely article
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Beautiful, the best thing is that it will tip a few cunts here over the edge altogether 
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Only fellas who are close to it already 
Itās gas the way our John and our Aishling can drive lads demented on TFK.
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Being compared to John just now has really made my day, I didnāt think it could get any better but there you go
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Are you obese as well?
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