RTE Ireland’s Fittest Family are set to air the episode featuring late contestant Cillian Flaherty.
The Flaherty family, who tragically lost 15-year-old Cillian back in October, will feature on the show this Saturday.
Cillian, from Whitestown in Blanchardstown, Dublin, passed away suddenly in his home on October 21, 2024.
It was reported that he had played a match and went to sleep, but sadly never woke up.
The youngster was due to appear on the hit RTE series, however, following the teenager’s sudden death, RTE made the decision to delay the show.
The tragedy happened just six days before the highly-anticipated series was due for release.
RTE later announced that they would consider releasing the pre-recorded show at some stage in the future.
And the broadcaster has now revealed that the Flaherty family will finally appear in this weeks episode of the show.
Cillian, who was a third-year student at Blakestown Community School, took part in the programme with his family, who are heavily involved in sport and fitness.
A source from RTE said: “The decision to delay Ireland’s Fittest Family was made to honour Cillian Flaherty’s memory and provide space for his family during such a difficult time.
“The Flaherty family have watched the series and given their full support for it to go ahead.
“We once again extend our deepest condolences to all those affected and thank our audience for their understanding.”
The series, which has a viewership of about 400,000 people each week, will air on Saturday nights on RTE One at 6.30pm for the next number of weeks.
The Sunday World reported that no re-shoots have been made since the teen’s death and added that Cillian would be honoured on the show in a respectful manner.
Although it is not understood how far the Flaherty family went in the competition, it has been noted that Cillian features heavily in the programme.
Cillian’s death came as a huge shock to his family and friends and his loved ones have remembered him as a “precious boy”.
In an emotional tribute, Cillian’s brother Kian shared several photos and videos of his late sibling on social media, telling how “words can’t describe the heartbreak”.
He wrote: “I love you lil bro, rest in paradise”.
Another heartfelt notice online read: “Cillian, Cillo Flats, precious son of Paula and Paul, dear brother of Kian and Heidi, cherished grandson of Frances, Dolores and the late Thomas, Paul and Mick and boyfriend of Katie.
“Sadly missed by his loving mother, father, brother, sister, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, relatives, neighbours and a large group of good mates. R.I.P.”
Blakestown Community School in Clonsilla, where Cillian had been in his Junior Cert year, shared their “sincere sympathies” with the family.
The post read: “It is with great sadness that we are sharing the news of the untimely passing of one of our 3rd-year students, Cillian Flaherty.
“This has come as a huge shock to our whole school community.
“Our sincere sympathies are with Cillian’s family and friends at this time.
“Cillian was a very popular member of our school community and we know that he will be hugely missed by all those who knew him.”
BRITAIN’S biggest family, The Radfords, are said to be jetting away to sunny Florida for a bumper Disney holiday this Easter.
With a potential brood of 39 people heading to see Mickey and Minnie, how much will it cost them? We’ve crunched the numbers to work out how many thousands it could cost them.
Leaving the UK for the sunnier destination of Orlando, Florida, the mega ménage is planning an Easter trip to Disney World to celebrate mum Sue Radford‘s 50th birthday, according to an interview with The Daily Mirror.
Sue said: “We’re going to do a big 50th holiday with all the kids and grandkids to Disney. We’ll go in the Easter break.
“The kids love it and the grandkids do too.”
Sue and her husband Noel Radford, 54, will be taking not only their own children, but all of their grandchildren with them too – making the most of the Easter break from school.
The huge holiday is going to kick off a big year of travel for the Radfords, who enjoyed 14 getaways last year alone.
The couple will presumably be joined by children Chris, 35, Sophie, 31, Chloe, 29, Jack, 27, Daniel, 25, Luke, 24, Millie, 23, Katie, 22, James, 21, Ellie, 19, Aimee, 18, Josh, 17, Max, 16, Tillie, 14, Oscar, 13, Casper, 12, Haillie, nine, Phoebe, eight, Archie, seven, Bonnie, six and Heidi, four.
Also joining them will be Chris’ wife Nicole Spencer, Sophie’s husband Joe Bradley, Chloe’s boyfriend Jake Wallace, Millie’s husband Harley Passmore and Katie’s boyfriend Connor Carter.
On top of that all 11 grandchildren are said to be in tow – meaning there’ll be plenty of holiday packing to be done.
Despite telling The Daily Mirror they have been “feeling the pinch” financially, they plan to spare no expense on this holiday of a lifetime – it’s a good job they have their own pie business and make money from their Channel 5 show, 22 Kids and Counting!
We’ve included the costs of the children’s partners in our calculations and used April 7th as our departure date – the first Monday of the Easter school holiday according to Lancashire County Council’s website.
The closest airport to the Lancashire homebase of the Radfords is Manchester, who offer direct flights to Orlando.
The closest airport to Disney World is Orlando International Airport (MCO), which is in southeast central Orlando, Florida.
Using Google Flights to work out the average cost of a flight on that day; the top departing flights are with Virgin Atlantic, who have varying fares for infants, children and young adults.
They class babies up to the age of two as infants. Children between the ages of two and eleven pay a child fare, and young adult fares apply to children between the ages of 12 and 16.
To jet off on 7th April from Manchester, an adult ticket costs £768 – the family will need 26 of these.
A young adult ticket costs £768 – they’ll need four of these.
A child ticket costs £576 – they’ll need five of these.
An infant ticket costs £77 – they’ll need four of these.
Flights in total = £26,228
There are extra international surcharges, carbon surcharges and taxes on top of this – but we haven’t included them in our maths.
Eldest son Chris and wife Nicole are parents to Maisie, seven, Jacob, five and Oaklyn, three.
Chloe and Jake share Mila, two, (currently, Chloe is pregnant with their second child).
While Millie and Harley share Chester two, and Elodie, 16 months with Millie’s daughter Ophelia, four, from a previous relationship.
Katie and Connor are parents to baby Ronnie, three months old.
All in, the family are looking at a jaw-dropping £26,228 on flights – and that’s before the excess charges or any extra baggage.
We’re calculating the cost of a seven-day Disney visit, which would require each guest to hold a 7-Day Magic Ticket for entrance.
The tickets include access to the park and water parks with the eligibility to enter multiple parks per day.
Holders will also have the ‘memory maker’ package which includes unlimited Disney photopass downloads – pictures taken by photographers around the park, on rides and in restaurants.
On top of that, they can use them for mini-golf, ESPN Wide World of Sports and more.
Luckily for Sue and Noel, children under the age of three go free. So four of the children on the trip won’t cost a penny to get into the park.
That leaves 10 child tickets (age three-10) at £559 each.
And 25 tickets for ages 10+ at £579 a pop.
Disney World Tickets total = £20,065
Sue and Noel have spoken about their approach to holiday accommodation previously, while appearing on the This Morning show – they revealed they usually opt for a villa to save costs and ensure the bunch can bunk close together.
Last September, they shared an Orlando Villa Tour on their Facebook page to their 944,000 followers.
Their glam villa had it’s own pool, with Sue captioning the clip: “The kids love it!”
The villa was perfect for their Disney trip – with a Frozen themed room and pirate ship themed room for the kids.
There was also a games room, complete with arcade-style gaming machines to entertain the children after a long day at the parks.
One eagle-eyed viewer recognised the accommodation as similar to a property listed on rental site, Vrbo.
The glam Vrbo house sleeps 15 – so Sue and Noel will need to book 3 to comfortably house all 39 travellers.
The accommodation costs £300 per night, working out at £2,100 per villa for a week.
Accommodation total = £6,300
Flights = £26,228
Disney World Tickets = £20,065
Accommodation = £6,300
GRAND TOTAL = £52,593
And that’s without food, merchandise and extras!
This won’t be the only holiday to celebrate Sue turning 50 – in the same interview with The Daily Mirror, she said her and Noel will jet off for a romantic holiday for two.
“But we are going to do a holiday just the two of us as well. That will be nice,” she revealed.
HERE are the longest living cars which don’t drop in value – from an iconic Fiat to a Range Rover.
From 18 to a staggering 30 years – these cars were in production for a mammoth time period.
The first Land Rover was built in 1948, with a four-wheel drive system that made it ideal for off-road.
It’s understood that production ended in early 2016 because of new regulations that would have forced Land Rover to make expensive changes to its design,
The new Gerry McGovern-designed Defender is expected to be on sale in showrooms in the next few months.
The Range Rover was aimed at buyers seeking a leisure vehicle that could also drive across different terrains.
It launched during an SUV frenzy which allegedly explains why it stuck around for so long.
During the 1980s, and it became a common sight at ski resorts in America after making following its 1987 launch at a Los Angeles Auto Show.
The 206 model was introduced in 1998, arriving as a hatchback with two or four doors, a station wagon, a convertible, and in some areas a saloon.
Some 10 million cars were sold with the most popular markets being Europe and Latin America.
The Peugot 206 was around for 27 years – but is still being produced in Iran today.
This model was around for a staggering 31 years, being one of the first European cars manufactured in China.
The Santana prompted a new interest for saloons in the Chinese market, according to Autocar.
Its numerous variants were commonly used in the public services, serving as cars, taxis, police cars and even government cars.
The Mini was designed by Alec Issigonis and developed in just 27 months.
With over 5million units built, it’s believed to have influenced the next generations of city cars and supercars with its innovative four-cylinder engine.
These include the likes of the Lamborghini, which drew influence from the car’s design when its 4 litre engine wouldn’t fit behind the passenger compartment.
The Fiat Uno was around for a mega 33 years, with the last model in Europe sold in 1995.
In Brazil, where it was called Mille, production ended in 2013 when the government introduced a new law requiring cars to be fit with front airbags and ABS brakes.
It’s latest model was a limited edition called Grazie Mille.
This small four wheel drive first appeared in 1970.
The first generation lasted 11 years, but the third generation stuck around for a whopping 20 years.
It has an ultra-low range gearbox and weighs only around 1000kg, which made it a very attractive model for many.
This car’s design was influenced by the Citroën 2CV and the Renault 4 – with 4.5 million models built in Turin, Italy.
Fiat reportedly asked its development team to come up with a simple and robust car. Early models came with an air-cooled two-cylinder engine from the 126.
It stuck around for 14 years before production stopped. The original Panda however can still be caught driven around parts of France and Italy.
The 205 came to market in 1983 as a four-door hatchback and became one of the brand’s best-sellers.
Later came the addition of a two-door hatchback, a convertible, a small van and, the popular GTi.
The 205’s price point became its biggest selling point. It was in production for 15 years, with the last day in 1998.
You can nab a second hand Gti for about £7,000 today.
The SL was one of the more popular Mercedes cars for nearly two decades.
It remains the only SL ever to include a four-seat coupé with a fixed roof.
The body style (named SLC) ceased in 1981. Second hand models are now on the market for over a whopping £100,000.
This model was around for a staggering 28 years. The luxury car was big enough for an entire family, with ground clearance for users to enjoy its four-wheel drive system.
The Wagoneer – later called Grand Wagoneer – gradually became more upmarket, with Jeep removing noise and vibrations inside the cabin to make it more luxurious.
Production ended in 1991 when Jeep replaced the Grand Wagoneer with the first Grand Cherokee.
The Jetta was around for a whopping 29 years. The second-generation model was first produced in China in 1991.
Early models were built from complete knock-down kits, which were replaced with locally-sourced parts in 1995.
It’s still commonly used as a taxi in some parts of China, including Beijing.
Toyota Century was around for 30 years after it was first introduced in 1967.
The original was mostly built by hand for some of Japan’s more wealthy clients.
It was considered a high-tech old school saloon having been fit with automatic air conditioning in 1971.
EVEN if your iPhone is out of charge, it’s still plenty powerful.
There are a few clever iPhone features that still work even when you’ve run the battery right down.
They’re important to know, as they can really save you when you’re in a pickle.
First up, it’s possible to make payments for certain things when your iPhone is dead.
Specifically, you can pay for some types of public transport.
It works using a feature called Express Mode.
This feature – which works even when your iPhone is on – lets you make the payment without unlocking it.
For instance, tap into the London Underground or NYC subway with a locked iPhone and your Express Mode card will be charged.
Express Mode is on by default, but you can choose which card you want to use in your Apple Settings.
It’s strictly for transit only – it won’t work if you’re trying to buy a sandwich at the shop.
This also works for unlocking your motor, if you’ve set up your car key on your iPhone.
Add your car key to the Apple Wallet and it’ll also work while your iPhone is dead too.
“You might be able to use your Express Mode cards, passes, and keys on your iPhone, even when your device needs to be charged,” Apple explains.
“Power reserve works for up to five hours with some cards, passes, and keys that have Express Mode turned on.”
To check if it’ll work, press the side button when your iPhone is out of charge.
This should reveal which of your cards and keys can be used with power reserve.
Just don’t do it too much or you risk running down those last dregs of charge.
The only other catch to note is that the feature won’t work if you’ve manually switched the iPhone off.
Your iPhone needs to run out of battery before power reserve becomes available.
Find My is one of the best ways to track down a lost iPhone.
If you haven’t used it, you should: it’s an app on the iPhone that lets you see where your other devices are.
And if you’ve lost your iPhone, you can use Apple’s iCloud website on a browser to find the iPhone. Or just use another Apple device that you own.
Importantly, Find My can still work even if your iPhone has run out of charge.
Not all iPhones, however: just ones with an ultra-wideband chip.
Here's the full list...
Picture Credit: Apple
That’s available on the iPhone 11 and later, and taps into the Find My network.
If your iPhone has that chip, an active iPhone that passes near it can detect it when it’s offline.
It’s this Find My Network that lets you find your iPhone if it’s ran out of battery (but not totally out of power reserve), switched off manually, or “offline”.
If you have your iPhone with you and it’s dead, pressing the power button should show a message that says “iPhone is Findable” if you’ve set it up right.
But this only works with enough power reserve available.
A recent Apple update made it possible so that you can see the time even if your iPhone is dead.
The feature was added as part of the iOS 18 update that rolled out in September last year.
You can see if you have it already (or download it) by going to Settings > General > Software Update.
Here's the official Apple guide...
Apple adds: “You can select a different transit or payment card for Express Transit Mode on your Apple Watch:
“On your iPhone, open the Apple Watch app. In the My Watch tab, tap Wallet & Apple Pay.
“Then tap Express Transit Card, select a transit or payment card, and authenticate on your Apple Watch with your passcode.”
Picture Credit: Apple
Again, this uses the iPhone’s power reserve that also enables Express Mode.
Now when you press the power button, the time should appear as well as the battery icon.
You’ll also see “iPhone is Findable” if your iPhone is set up to be found will out of battery.