#3 Heads Up - Interview with Niall Ronan

Episode 3: Ed Daly speaks to Niall Ronan, a retired professional Irish rugby player. Ronan began his career as a flanker in 2003 with Leinster, then Munster where he successfully accumulated over 100 caps and also represented Ireland at full international level.

In this episode, Niall speaks to Ed about his journey and shares memories of his “best years” playing professional Rugby which evolved from his love for GAA. Niall shares the many opportunities presented to him and his encounter with concussion injuries at this time. In 2014 Niall retired due to a knee injury and founded Titan Wellness, which looks to build “a culture of health and wellness” in the organisations they work with – but those good rugby memories remain strong.

About the podcast:
The Heads-Up Podcast are a series of interviews with ex-professional male rugby players, elite female players and coaches about concussion in the sport. The podcasts discuss their early careers and very open commentary about the realities of professional rugby. Heads-Up discusses insights into injury (specifically concussion), how they managed then and how they continue to manage with life after a professional career. The players offer insights into the culture around the game, their concussion experiences and their observations on player welfare, protective equipment and law changes to the game.  

About Ed Daly:
Ed Daly has over thirteen years of experience in sports coach education and more than five years of lecturing experience in third-level institutes. Ed is currently a PhD researcher focused on investigating concussion identification, concussion management and concussion reduction strategies.

Ed is an active PhD research scientist (Oxford Brookes University) specializing in concussion education, managing athlete workload, objective concussion diagnosis and post-concussion management. Currently developing research for the Irish Concussion Research Centre (ICRC) based in GMIT.

Ed is a lecture in Galway Mayo Institute of Technology (GMIT) in the area of Sport & Exercise Science within the School of Science & Computing. Programme coordinator for MSc (strength & conditioning).

Before moving to a career in lecturing, Ed worked in professional sports and spent over ten years as a coach with Munster Rugby, coaching age-grade players on the professional player development pathway and in injury incidence reduction via workload management (specializing in the area of strength & conditioning).

Contact Details:
Ed Daly
Email: Ed.Daly@gmit.ie

Published by:
Emma.Finnegan
Email: Emma.Finnegan@gmit.ie