Bressie’s tales of the unexpected

A Mullingar musician and podcaster teases he will defy your expectations during his upcoming appearance on the stage of the Ramor Theatre.

Niall Breslin, popularly known as Bressie, is set to entertain the Virginia venue on the fourth stop of his national road show, and he promises people will leave with “the strength to believe in themselves a little bit”.

Following a sold-out live podcast tour in 2023 Bressie is taking his multi-award winning ‘Where Is My Mind’ podcast on the road again in April 2024 across Ireland.

“A lot of people don’t expect what they get,” Bressie tells the Celt. “Anything you think the podcast and live show is going to be, that’s not what it is. Even though the subject is looking at the mind, it’s kind of a irreverent, heart warming look at it and there’s a lot of music, a lot of spoken word. It’s not just me sitting on a couch talking for two hours.”

Bressie explains the live show is a unique cocktail of music, spoken word, monologues and surprising guests that explores how we can better care for our heads and hearts in the modern world.

“When I do the shows, they’re based around three things: relatability, vulnerability and functionality. People need something to walk away with when they leave the show.”

Having heard wonderful stories of the Ramor Theatre from other entertainers, Bressie was eager to have it as a stop on his road show. He believes the crowd can anticipate an entertaining learning experience - that is guaranteed with Kevin McGahern named as his special guest.

“When I say learning, this is kind of important, I don’t know what anybody is dealing with in their lives so I’m just trying to let them know we’re all a little cracked if we’re honest with each other. I think that’s okay to admit and talk to each other about and have a bit of fun.”

Bressie is widely known for his career in music and rugby, and more recently for speaking openly about his own mental health struggles.

“I moved to Israel when I was 13. My dad was in the UN and I had a pretty bad experience there. There was a lot of conflict at the time, obviously there still is. It had a pretty big impact on me as a teenager and then I kind of carried that privately inside of me for years and it affected me massively - it affected my rugby career, it affected my music career, it affected everything I wanted to do.”

He explained the turmoil he was experiencing led him to a very dark point in his life.

“It ultimately led me to breaking down and having no other alternative than to get help at that point and then I publicly started speaking about it about 10 or 11 years ago, thinking I’d lose my job and I’d have to leave the country, but I think Ireland at that point was ready to talk about it.”

While mental health has become a widely discussed topic in recent years, the Celt wondered if it was a taboo subject a decade ago.

“I always said it was less scary to deal with it on my own for the rest of my life than it was to deal with it. I had, at that point, a very destructive relationship for about 15 years with my brain and my mind and it just wasn’t sustainable.”

At this crisis point Bressie was determined to survive. He educated himself in managing his mental health while assisting others in the process. This coincided with his role as a mentor on The Voice of Ireland. “I felt I wanted to reach out to younger people who may have started dealing with what I was dealing with, and let them know this isn’t something you have to deal with alone.

"There’s things you can do. I certainly don’t want young people to spend 15 years of their life like I did trying to figure it out. There’s no need for that and I think that was a big driver for my work.”

His ‘Where Is My Mind’ roadshow has helped him aid the younger generation.

“A lot of people bring their sons, and I love that because I’m very passionate about reaching out and supporting young men at a time when we’re told there’s toxic masculinity. That’s not helping. We’re not helping young men by saying those things. When they come to the show, they realise things like vulnerability don’t mean there’s an absence of power.

“Ultimately when people leave the show, they stop pretending we’re not vulnerable and there’s a liberation in that. I don’t give people life advice, I don’t give people top ways to beat anxiety because I don’t know people and I don’t know what they’re dealing with. I give them the strength to believe in themselves a little bit and that’s ultimately what my mission is in mental health.”

Tickets to ‘Where Is My Mind’ in the Ramor Theatre can be purchased at The Ramor Theatre or at niallbreslin.com