Waterford moments that made us smile in 2020

Let's Face It, 2020 Was A Bit Of A Weird Year..

BUT, it's almost over!

Despite the tough year for many, there were lots of good moments that shone through too.

So we dug deep and rounded up of some some happy Waterford stories of 2020, just incase you missed them!

Dolphins and Whales spotted in Portally

In November, Colm Gallagher, Harry Power and Odhran Power witnessed quite the spectacle from their rib, two miles off Portally.  Two fin whales and a pod of dolphins appeared from the water and we're only delighted Odhran took his phone out and recorded it all!

The video garnered serious views online and we think as well as being a stunning scene, the lad's commentary makes it - sound up for this one!

Tega is headed for Texas!

Following a horrific year for Tega Agberhiere, after he suffered brutal injuries in an acid attack last year, he received some great news this October!

Tega will be heading to Western Texas College to study and play football in 2021, fulfilling a dream of his.

Damien went along and caught up with Tega and his mother, Christy to hear all about the good news.

Gailltír became All Ireland Champions

2020 was a big year for women in sport, but this is definitely one of the best Waterford sporting moments this year.

In March, Gailltír were crowned Intermediate All Ireland club championships in Croke Park. They beat St Rynaghs of Offaly 1-13 to 0-13. A goal from Una Jackman in the fourth minute of injury time sealed the victory.

Here's the moment they arrived back into Waterford with the cup!

Solas Cancer Support Centre 2020 Virtual Run and Walk for Life raised €171,000

The majority events had to change in 2020, but here's one that benefitted from it!

In October, The Solas Cancer Support Centre Virtual Run and Walk for Life raised €171,000 - the highest number raised in seven years! The 2020 incarnation of the event saw the run go virtual as a record number of people ran their own distance and route on a day of their choosing.

People took part across the South East region, as well as spots much further afield such as Oslo, Jakarta and Sydney.

On announcing the amount raised Barry Monaghan, Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Solas Cancer Support Centre, spoke of his appreciation to all who took part: “Over 2,650 participants took part this year and to raise €171,000 in such a challenging year is just astonishing."

WLR Win Big at the IMRO Radio Awards

Okay so this is one that made us smile A LOT!

The IMRO National Radio Awards may have been a virtual ceremony this year but that didn’t stop the virtual celebrations when we were awarded 7 awards at October's National IMRO Radio Awards, including IMRO ‘Local Station of The Year’ for the second year in succession!

Damien Tiernan was named Speech Broadcaster of the Year, with Déise Today winning Current Affairs Show of the Year.

Karen Tomkins’ brilliant children’s story series Big Breakfast, Little Stories, got the Gold nod for Best Short Feature.

Sinead Aherne’s daringly honest documentary “Breast Cancer and Me” about her own personal battle with cancer in her 30’s won her a Silver award and Damien Tiernan also won Silver for News Reporter of the Year.

There was also a Bronze award for WLR’s radio drama series 'Youthquake' for which the station teamed up with transition year students from 4 Waterford schools.

We're still smiling!

Lucy Power from Stradbally shone on The Late Late Toy Show

It's every child's dream to make it on to The Late Late Toy Show and Stradbally's Lucy Power got to do just that!

Lucy had a chat with Ollie and Mary on The Big Breakfast Blaa ahead of the trip to Dublin with her Mam. She explained how she was picked and how excited she is to be heading to the RTE studios for the magic of The Toy Show.

Have a listen back below.

Waterford getting to the All Ireland Hurling Final

Okay so we don't want to talk too much about the result of the All-Ireland but the Waterford senior hurlers gave the whole county a huge lift this year when they were back in action from October.

With some brilliant wins over Cork, Clare and of course Kilkenny!

After 70 minutes of hard battling against the Cats, Liam Cahill's men were back to an All-Ireland for the first since 2017.

Check out their journey to get there.

We were given some brilliant Déise performances and memories in 2020, but we love how Waterford fans all over the world came together as best they could to show their support.

Here's how Waterford fans enjoyed the build-up to December 13th.

And finally, make sure to check out this video, voiced by Phelim Dowling, and try not to get goosebumps!

Mark Wahlberg's connection to Ballymacarbery

Yes, you read that headline right!

In a random turn of events, it looks like the Hollywood star is friends with a Ballymac ex-pat.

Wahlberg attends the Church of the Good Shepherd in Beverly Hills where the principal of Ballymacarbery NS, Michael J O Ryan’s uncle is the parish priest.

The star of movies such as ‘Daddy’s Home’ and ‘The Departed’, is one of a group of celebs who made a graduation video for the sixth class students at Ballymacarbery NS. The video, which was arranged by the principal of the school Michael J. O Ryan, includes 3-4 minute messages from celebrities including former soccer player Niall Quinn, rugby star Gordon Darcy, and Johnny B from the 2 Johnnies.

Mark even made a promise of a visit some day!

Watch it in full here.

A 6 year old Waterford boy completed a charity triathlon

Was your lockdown as productive as this?!

In May, we spoke to 6 year old Waterford boy Charlie Colquhoun who decided to complete an Ironman over 60 days to raise money for charity.

This inspiring little lad set out to 'swim' 4km, cycle 180km and run 42km in 60 days to raise money for Barnardo's Covid-19 Crisis Appeal. Because the sea was outside his 5k radius and the pools were closed, Charlie decided to do press-ups instead of swimming - 50 press-ups per 100m which totals 2000 press-ups!

Not only did he do it, but he also raised a whopping €4,215  - GO CHARLIE!

The legendary Charlie and his dad Simon told Damien all about it on Deise Today.

So we know we're probably missing loads! So share on Facebook and Twitter and let us know your stand out moments of 2020!