My blind date fear
Presenter says she was petrified on first meeting boyfriend Tom
RETIRED RTE host Mary Kennedy has revealed she was “shaking” and “petrified” ahead of her blind date with boyfriend.
The former Nationwide presenter’s marriage ended in 2005 and four years ago, she was set up with Tom.
But Mary – who is fronting a new TG4 documentary Fad Saoil (Long Life) told of her fear before the meeting, which was set up by their mutual friend, author Debbie Deegan.
She said: “We went for lunch on a blind date. It took a lot of courage, and I was absolutely petrified.
“That day I drove down from RTE to lunch, I was shaking the whole morning in advance.
“But you have to take a chance, you have to be courageous.
“I would always say to people as they get older to never lose the courage, the energy, that pushes you forward, even if it does terrify you and requires that extra push.”
With the couple are still together, Mary told the RTE Guide: “We are the same age and we both like to hike and to travel.
“Tom and I have just come back from a trip to Portugal.”
Mary retired in 2019 but she admitted the decision was not her own.
She added: “I wouldn’t have chosen to go and I didn’t want to go.”
But now she said it is important for her to “embrace the different stages as they come along”.
Mary added: “I think it is important to hold onto the magic of the various stages, the curiosity of youth, the mating if you can and to live life with all those qualities.
“But some people facing retirement fear falling off a precipice.
“It is important to keep curiosity and a positive attitude and to have good health, also emphasised in this documentary.
“If you don’t have good health, ageing can be so different.”
That day I drove to lunch, I was shaking the whole morning
MARY KENNEDY ON HER BLIND DATE PANIC