\u201cI can never forget it,\u201d Niamh (57) tells Brendan Courtney on RT\u00c9\u2019s Keys To My Life, as she revisits the family home in Glasnevin, Dublin.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, we came in the door, and there used to be a table out here, and I could hardly speak, I was so nervous about telling them, and I said \u2018I have something to tell you, I\u2019m expecting\u2019.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Brendan Courtney with Niamh Kavanagh<\/p>\n
When she was in her twenties, Niamh met musician Paul Megahey, who would eventually become her husband and the father of her two sons.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow, we weren\u2019t married and that\u2019s why this was a bit of a problem, and honestly it was a bit shocking for them, but it was of its time… it was a big thing.<\/p>\n
\u201cGrowing up it was the worst\u2026 it was tough. It was the big fear of your mother if you have daughters. God, I will never forget it. I can still see myself sitting there.\u201d<\/p>\n
But she adds: \u201cThere are many fabulous stories in this house, no doubt about it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Niamh won the Eurovision for Ireland in 1997 with In Your Eyes.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Niamh with fellow Eurovision winners Linda Martin and Dana<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is kinda where everything happened really, that changed the whole trajectory of my life really,\u201d she says of that house she first moved into at the age of 23 and where she returned to after winning the Eurovision in Millstreet.<\/p>\n
Niamh now lives with her family in Paul\u2019s native Carrickfergus, Co Antrim, and describes how in 2018 she got a shocking phone call from her eldest son while she was on stage in Cork.<\/p>\n
Stroke<\/p>\n
\u201cI was on stage in Cork and I got a call from Jack, who was 17 years of age, to say that they had brought Paul to the hospital. Paul had a stroke. They basically saved his life. It was quite a moment,\u201d she explains.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Niamh with her mum<\/p>\n
\u201cLike one day I was standing on stage, saying \u2018I\u2019m in full voice, I feel really good about what\u2019s happening\u2019, and then the next day I was sitting with a folder trying to understand about strokes, and trying to make Paul understand that it was going to be OK.\u201d<\/p>\n
Niamh believes the ordeal has made them stronger.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Niamh with her family<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a big deal, but the main thing is maintaining us as a couple as equals in the sense of loving each other rather than \u2018I\u2019m minding him now\u2019,\u201d she reflects.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut it\u2019s actually been a lovely gift, because we discovered we still enjoy each other… we were able to use friendship and our love to actually find the sweet spot again, because we had to.\u201d<\/p>\n
Keys To My Life is on RT\u00c9 One tonight at 8.30pm<\/p>\n
Niamh Kavanagh in 1993<\/p>\n
News in 90 Seconds – September 21st<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cI can never forget it,\u201d Niamh (57) tells Brendan Courtney on RT\u00c9\u2019s Keys To My Life, as she…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":151214,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[6491,96,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-151213","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151213","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=151213"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151213\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/151214"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=151213"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=151213"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=151213"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}