Inspiration by Cara Darmody

Inspiration by Cara Darmody Disability Rights Campaigner. International Motivational Speaker, for all types of events.

PLEASE SHARE IF YOU CAN!!! I'm thrilled to launch my inspiring motivational talks business into schools nationwide today...
06/05/2026

PLEASE SHARE IF YOU CAN!!!
I'm thrilled to launch my inspiring motivational talks business into schools nationwide today!! I've emailed all secondary schools in Munster and Leinster this morning, and I'll be emailing the rest during the week as well as larger national schools!!

From September, I'll be bringing my incredible stories directly into classrooms to inspire others about Leadership, Positivity and Determination!!!

Emails often go into spam folders, so if any Principal, teacher or SNA wants to reach out to me directly to get the email I've sent out, then please do so by emailing info@caradarmody.ie from your school email, or check out my website at www.caradarmody.ie for contact details!!

I can't wait for next September when my 'Tour of Ireland's Schools' officially begins!!!!

What a trip down memory lane!!! This photo popped up on my feed today - it's exactly 4 years since I first appeared on a...
03/05/2026

What a trip down memory lane!!! This photo popped up on my feed today - it's exactly 4 years since I first appeared on a radio station!!!

News had just broken that an 11 year old 5th class national school student (me!!) wanted to try and pass the Junior Cycle maths exam 5 weeks later to raise national awareness about the lack of autism assessments, and wanted to raise €100 for her local schools!!

Little did I know that I'd get my result of 97% live on The Late Late Show 7 months later, raise €82,000, end up sitting the Leaving Cert maths exam the next year while still in national school & again scoring 97%, and then start a political advocacy campaign that led to the Government creating "Cara's Fund" and putting €30million of funding into it over the last 2 years!!! That definitely put the €100 in it's place!!!🤣

But it all started on this day 4 years ago when I met my great friends presenter Fran Curry and Tipp FM for the very first time!!! What a day that was - no nerves, just thrilled that I was missing school for the morning!!!! 😂

Help!!!! 32 days to go to the Junior Cycle exams!!! I'm having one of those 'what goes in one ear, goes out the other' k...
02/05/2026

Help!!!! 32 days to go to the Junior Cycle exams!!! I'm having one of those 'what goes in one ear, goes out the other' kind of days!!! So any good study tips will be greatly appreciated, before I head to the cinema tonight for a break!!!

BREAKING NEWS - MY MOTIVATIONAL SPEAKING COULD BE COMING TO A SCHOOL NEAR YOU FROM THIS SEPTEMBER!!!After months of hard...
29/04/2026

BREAKING NEWS - MY MOTIVATIONAL SPEAKING COULD BE COMING TO A SCHOOL NEAR YOU FROM THIS SEPTEMBER!!!

After months of hard work, I'm putting the finishing touches to my new business product - I'm bringing motivational speaking directly into schools during my TY year from this September, to inspire teenagers & children about Positivity, Determination & Resilience, with loads of amazing stories from my incredible journey thrown in as well!!!

From September, I'll be travelling around the Country once a week going into classrooms, bringing the most positive & inspiring message possible!!

I'll be launching this next week, so for any Principals, Teachers or SNAs out there that would like my message of positivity in their school, keep an eye on this page next Wednesday as I launch this amazing venture!! You can go to my website www.caradarmody.ie to find contact details, etc!!!

And while I'll be doing TY work placements elsewhere as well, I'll be making a little bit of Transition Year history by being the first student to ever work for their own business!!! Hopefully the boss pays well!!!! 🤣 I can't wait to do this!!!!

Don't tell my amazing running coach Anthony that I had a moment of weakness tonight after my sprint session at the track...
28/04/2026

Don't tell my amazing running coach Anthony that I had a moment of weakness tonight after my sprint session at the track!!!! 🤣 Now let's get this chocolate sundae eaten!!!!!

I looked up the definition of 'Torture' in the dictionary - it says "Having to study for your 2026 Junior Cycle exams on...
25/04/2026

I looked up the definition of 'Torture' in the dictionary - it says "Having to study for your 2026 Junior Cycle exams on a sunny day!!!" 🤣
At least I get to do it outside!!! So everyone, spare a thought for The Class of 2026 today!! Hope you're all enjoying the amazing weather!!!

Exhausted after another Clonmel AC sprint session, as I prepare for a few upcoming races!! But it's amazing how motivate...
23/04/2026

Exhausted after another Clonmel AC sprint session, as I prepare for a few upcoming races!! But it's amazing how motivated you get to train when the alternative is studying for the Junior Cycle!!!! 🤣 Hope everyone is enjoying the beautiful sunshine this evening!!!

What an amazing night I had yesterday as the keynote speaker at the CBS Dungarvan secondary school annual awards ceremon...
22/04/2026

What an amazing night I had yesterday as the keynote speaker at the CBS Dungarvan secondary school annual awards ceremony!! A huge thanks to the Principal Anges Guerin, the BOM, and their fantastic teachers for having me!!! What an incredible boys school it is, and I was delighted to meet so many inspiring young men!!

Inspiring others really is my calling in life, and I was thrilled to share my journey with so many incredible male teenagers, who never heard a story like mine before!! They were captivated as I recounted my huge exam successes, 50 hour protests, and then getting €30million from the Government, all with a smile on my face!!! Stressing the importance of Leadership, positivity, education & following your dreams, went down amazingly with them, and I was truly humbled to get a standing ovation at the end!!!

The future is so bright for CBS Dungarvan, and I'll be following their journey with great interest!!

P.S - thanks to everyone for the online advice yesterday - I went with the blue jumpsuit in the end, as per 90+% of the feedback!!! 😆

Can't wait for tonight!! I'm the keynote speaker for a huge Awards Ceremony in a fantastic Co. Waterford secondary schoo...
21/04/2026

Can't wait for tonight!! I'm the keynote speaker for a huge Awards Ceremony in a fantastic Co. Waterford secondary school.
Instead of worrying about my speech though, I'm still deciding on an outfit and I'm stuck between the blue or the navy jumpsuit!! 🤣
All advice welcome!!!!

What an incredible day I had yesterday as the keynote speaker at the "Include Us All" disability & inclusion event in Wa...
19/04/2026

What an incredible day I had yesterday as the keynote speaker at the "Include Us All" disability & inclusion event in Waterford city!!! To see so many Waterford disabilty & inclusion groups coming together was the most amazing thing I've ever seen, and I can't wait to see what they do next!!! A huge thanks to Waterford Disability Network and Autism Friendly Waterford for having me!!!

Oh by the way, I got loads of messages & queries yesterday about my fashion, so thanks a million for those!!! The blue jumpsuit was Lipsy, the white cardigan was from Penneys, and the grey runners were Adidas!! And the model who wore them was me!!!! 🤣

Just heading off to be the keynote speaker of the amazing Disability & Inclusion event at The Granville Hotel in Waterfo...
18/04/2026

Just heading off to be the keynote speaker of the amazing Disability & Inclusion event at The Granville Hotel in Waterford city, from 2pm to 6pm!!! I can't wait to meet everyone there!!!

Waterford Disability Network

ALL GOOD THINGS MUST COME TO AN END!!!It's been the greatest privilege of my life to write a weekly political gossip col...
16/04/2026

ALL GOOD THINGS MUST COME TO AN END!!!
It's been the greatest privilege of my life to write a weekly political gossip column for the Nationalist Newspaper and Tipperary Star for the last 16 months, and what an incredible journey it's been!!!

Unfortunately with my Junior Cycle exams just 2 months away, I can't give the column the attention & time it deserves so I'm going to take a step back so that I can study properly. This will shock you, but there was around of 8 hours of work went into it each week with research & writing, etc!! So yesterday was my last column in this amazing adventure!!

Each week, I brought the week's political news to the people of Co. Tipperary, with the column being extremely humorous and tongue-in-cheek!!!! 🤣

A million thanks to the editors and staff who gave me this incredible opportunity, especially my great pal journalist Aoife Sheehan who is my absolute hero as she helped me so much!! And thanks to my Dad who showed me how to avoid stepping on a landmine every week!!!

But most of all I want to say thanks to the people of Co. Tipperary or anyone who read the weekly column - there's rarely been a day when someone doesn't stop me on the street for a funny chat about one of the column's stories!! Those chats, and encouragement, were simply amazing and meant he world to me!!

This column led to invitations for me to write opinion pieces in the Irish Independent, Irish Examiner, Irish Sun and Sunday Independent over the last year, so I'm definitely not finished with journalism yet - just taking a break!!!

See you all in the next cartoon!!!! 😆

Address

Ardfinnan, Co. Tipperary
Co. Tipperary

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