21/6/2003 - pants to go!

Recall the news story about a mother who went far to own Ronan's pair of underwear?  Well recently it looks like she'll be offering and giving it away!  to have paid £1,610 for the pants and extending her overdraft meant she had to find a way to pay the money back to the bank.  Speaking recently, Justina Bearman from Falmouth, Cornwall, UK said: "I would dearly love to keep them, but I have got to pay my bank back.  It has been fun having them but I would listen to an offer for them if it was acceptable.  Perhaps someone could buy a share of them."  The underwear is currently in a frame of Ms. Bearman's home.

"Originally sixteen women were going to pay £100 each but then no one offered so I went ahead."  Finally, she gave the reason why she wanted the underwear so much: "I have always been a Ronan fan. He was always the one I lusted after in Boyzone.  I wanted them because Ronan is my babe and he always has been."

17/6/2003 - cancer scare

Ronan revealed recently what he thought was a cancer scare.  Back a couple months ago while on holiday with his wife, Yvonne, Ronan discovered a lump  in a testicle.  Ronan went to see the doctor and assured him that the growth of the lump was not malignant.  Speaking to The Sun newspaper, Ronan revealed how worried he was: "It was terrifying. I check myself regularly. I was on holiday, noticed something and phoned the doc. When it didn't go away I went home to see him.  I know it can be passed on genetically and I had it checked out. My GP said it wasn't cancer."  Ronan's mother, Marie died in February 1998 from Breast Cancer.

13/6/2003 - coming to butlins!

Ronan will be performing again at Butlins in Minehead, UK on Sunday 9th November 2003!  The show back in November 2001 was a huge success and Ronan thought it would be great to do it once again!  If you haven't had a chance to see Ronan perform live this year on his Destination '03 Tour in the UK, here's your chance to see him!  To book tickets to this event, check out the Butlins website by clicking here!  This event could also be the first chance to see Ronan perform brand new material which Ronan is currently recording over this summer.  Keep it here at RKW for all the latest about the new stuff!  Also check out our updated Tour & Appearances page to see where Ronan will be in the next few months!

11/6/2003 - ronan to perform at special olympics!

Ronan will be present at the opening ceremony at a Special Olympics in Dublin, Ireland.  He will be performing on 21st June 2003.  This event is to be the biggest event held in Ireland and the ceremony will be screened on TV in front of an audience of millions worldwide.  Ronan is honoured to be at this special event.

9/6/2003 - ronan completes the walk!

Yesterday, Ronan completed the 357 mile walk which begun 23 days ago at the Giant's Causeway in county Antrim.  Within these 23 days, Ronan has walked down through ten counties and meeting hundreds of people who gave him support along the way and the motivation and determination to go for it!  Ronan finally completed the walk and arrived at the Old Head of Kinsale yesterday afternoon.

Ronan spoke to Sky News about the reason for walking: "The reason why we came out on the road is cancer awareness, to make people more aware."  Despite the weather conditions and the aching legs and blisters, Ronan admitted that sometimes the walk was tough: "There were times when the injuries got very hard, they were very difficult to get through, strapped up and icing them and on pain killers.  But we fought through it."

Hundreds of fans came and joined Ronan on the last leg of the walk and they did so well.  The end of the walk gave Ronan a chance top open two bottles of champagne!  Ronan was very happy about the way it turned out: "It was unbelievable, I can’t believe it. It is fantastic.  There was ups and downs and pains but we got through it and we had a great time."  Family and friends did help Ronan along the way, but it was his stylist and head of security who really joined Ronan throughout the entire length of the walk.

Ronan's brother, Gary told the media how happy the three walkers were: "I can’t believe the elation here. They couldn’t be happier.  They are going to party until they drop tonight.  But judging by how tired they are they’ll probably be in bed by nine o’clock."

Ronan and his walkers managed to raised over £100,000 for Action Cancer and the Marie Keating Foundation!  Ronan described where the cash would go: "I would love to think we could put another unit on the road in the north.  This is about cancer awareness. Cancer can be cured if it is caught on time."

Finally, comparing walking to singing Ronan said: "It's easier singing, there's no doubt about it."

8/6/2003 - new stuff on the way!

With Ronan's charity walk finished, Ronan will be taking a break for a short while...but as soon as that's done, Ronan will be back in the studio to record his third album!  He will be recording the album this month and July in three locations, Los Angeles, London and Dublin.  This time however, Ronan is planning to write even more songs for this album after the successes of his recent single release, 'The Long Goodbye' and the new live track, 'On My Way'.  With this coming up, the release of the next single and album will probably be later this year.  We'll keep you posted on the progress and hope to keep you updated about the new material!

7/6/2003 - the end is near!

This is Ronan's penultimate day of the charity walk - to have gone so far is extraordinary - 22 days, hundreds of miles of walking and lots of money raised for Action Cancer and the Marie Keating Foundation.  Sounds amazing and it certainly is!  Having had a rest in Watergrasshill in county Cork last night, Ronan moved on through the city of Cork and the Cork Airport to stop just outside Cork city tonight.  Tomorrow, Ronan will have reached the final destination, the Old Head Of Kinsale having begun at Giant's Causeway back north on 17th May.  Ronan should arrive at the Old Head Of Kinsale by 3:30pm tomorrow!  We shall be getting coverage of the final destination soon!  Soon after, Ronan will be taking a break and then it's back to the studio to record the all important third album!  Check out the following resources:

- The Marie Keating Foundation
- Action Cancer

Check out our exclusive Walk Ireland 2003 mini-site which shows all the towns Ronan will visit during his walk - and it's completely interactive!  To see how much Ronan has covered so far, click on all the areas on the interactive map!  Click here now to access our mini-site!!!

6/6/2003 - into county cork!

Ronan is almost there!  Ronan is in county Cork and this means he's reached the last county of his Walk Ireland 2003!  This morning, Ronan walked through the county of Cork to reach Watergrasshill not far from the city centre of Cork.  He spoke earlier on Cork's 96FM and told them that "the walk has been a great experience and that the reception all the way down from the causeway has been outstanding".  Ronan and the walkers will rest in Watergrasshill tonight and then tomorrow will move on to the city of Cork and stop there just outside the city itself on Saturday before completing the final journey to the Old Head of Kinsale at approximately 3:30pm on Sunday.  Keep it here as we get the final moments of this charity walk!  

- The Marie Keating Foundation
- Action Cancer

Check out our exclusive Walk Ireland 2003 mini-site which shows all the towns Ronan will visit during his walk - and it's completely interactive!  To see how much Ronan has covered so far, click on all the areas on the interactive map!  Click here now to access our mini-site!!!

6/6/2003 - just a smartypant!

It was just an ordinary telephone auction that turned extraordinary when a woman went to go as far as she could to win Ronan's underwear for £1610!  The mother of three, Justine Bearman was bidding for the Yves-Saint Laurent underwear when things got really hot!  "I was only going to go up to £500 when another man came in and bid £1000.  There was no was he was going to get them.  I wanted then because Ronan is my babe and he always has been".  To ensure she did outbid the man, she went to her local bank  to extend her overdraft to £1000: "The bank knew what the money was for".

The event was run by Pirate FM whose Radiothon raised £58,000.  The chairman of the Pirate Trust, Nick Lake commented about this unbelievable bid: "There was healthy bidding going on, and the trouble she went to get them was quite extraordinary".

5/6/2003 - near the end of the walk...

Ronan is nearly there!  Ronan is by now in county Cork on the last leg of his walk!  Ronan should reach the Old Head Of Kinsale by 8th June 2003 (this Sunday).  Earlier in the week he passed through the counties of Laois, Kilkenny, Tipperary and Limerick.  We will be keeping a close eye as Ronan reaches his destination has covered some 300 miles already - keep it here!

For more information about the charities click the links below:

- The Marie Keating Foundation
- Action Cancer

Check out our exclusive Walk Ireland 2003 mini-site which shows all the towns Ronan will visit during his walk - and it's completely interactive!  To see how much Ronan has covered so far, click on all the areas on the interactive map!  Click here now to access our mini-site!!!

2/6/2003 - westlife and ronan to split?

It has been reported that Westlife (pictured) and Ronan may part company.  Ronan who has been the management adviser for Westlife met them earlier to dicuss his future role as management.  Ronan paved the way for Westlife's success advising on image and choice of material.  Louis Walsh made no comments about this.

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