Roddy Collins, Mary Coughlan, Kyla Cobbler & more - Advice for the Class of 2026
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What advice do Mary Coughlan and Roddy Collins have for the Class of 2026?
The Leaving Cert is winding up. There's just a few exams left and the class of 2026 is about to head out into the world. So, We are joined now for some life advice for the class of 26 by two very wise people and two very wise people who have led varied and interesting lives themselves. So here in studio with me, singer Mary Coughlin. Good morning. Good morning. And we're joined from Spain by a man who's done it all, really. He's been a builder, a professional footballer, a football manager, a barman, a pundit, an author and the rest of it, I'd say. Roddy Collins, buenos dias.
Buenos dias.
And you're still on that same Sunday during Spain since the last time we spoke. Are you ready? Ah, come here. I'm living the dream.
Yeah, yeah. I'm living the dream. And you know what? The guilt I'm feeling when I'm tuning into the news and seeing the rain and all, you know. You just don't deserve it, Brian. A little bit of haze you're in, but not what you're getting. But anyway.
Yeah, I'd say the guilt isn't killing you now, yeah. Okay, so we'll get life experience and wisdom from the pair of you. And we'll also get some extra life advice from other voices as we go along. But let's start with where you were both at, at that school leaving age. Mary Coughlin, you were a bit of a wild teen, were you?
I left home two weeks after the leave and cert, but I did the leave and cert. But there wasn't as much pressure then. I mean, there was a lot of people I know left after the junior and went off to the tech and became like plumbers and carpenters and mechanics and loads of other things. So I did the leave and cert mostly because I didn't want to work. because my father had put the foot down and said, if you're going to leave school, you have to get a job. Okay. So I stayed on to do the leave cert. But then I left home afterwards and started my adventures in life, really. You emigrated straight after leaving, did you? Down to Limerick. I went to Limerick first and I met a gang of people down there and we went off to London.
And yeah, by the time I was 18, so I was 17 in May, did my Leaving Cert in June and I was gone and I was working at various jobs. But my big job was street sweeping in the borough of Ealing and Acton. The first ever woman street sweeper in London.
Okay, so literally you were that person in school that said, Mary Coughlin, if you don't knuckle down, you'll end up sweeping the streets. That was the big threat in those days, wasn't it? Roddy, you got as far as the group search as it was known then. I'd say, Roddy, there was no school could contain you, was there?
No, I didn't like school. It wasn't for me. It wasn't, you know, walking around in a line, everyone walked this way and everyone wore this uniform and please may I go to the toilet, I'm kind of going to go to mock all that bull, you know. No, it wasn't for me. So, yeah, I was expelled out of O'Connell, well, actually, I was suspended indefinitely out of O'Connell schools when I was about 14. so that suspension still stands well i ended up going to cabaret tech as they called and that was brilliant absolutely brilliant and you needed three passes in your in your group shirt was called then to get an apprenticeship so i've done english maths and woodwork and i got three good passes and that and got an apprenticeship i wanted to be a bricklayer brandon but uh
couldn't get into the trade back then you had to pay money and we hadn't got the money to pay it so I ended up a labourer for Cramptons I was 17 when I done my junior set because I missed a year out of school and yeah so I went as an apprentice when I was about 18 or yeah going into my 19th year but anyway so look No, I didn't like school. It wasn't for me, you know. It wasn't that I was unruly or anything. I just didn't get it.
Yeah, yeah. Look, I think there's more people than we ever thought that that applies to. Roddy, one thing you did is you worked in bars as a young lad, I think, and subsequently. Would you agree that everybody should work in hospitality at some stage in their formative years?
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Chapters
4 chapters
1
What advice do Mary Coughlan and Roddy Collins have for the Class of 2026?
0:00–4:57
2
How did Mary Coughlan navigate her early adulthood after school?
4:57–9:18
3
What life lessons did Roddy Collins learn from his school experiences?
9:18–15:07
4
Why is working in hospitality important for personal development?
15:07–29:03