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Self prayer Ben Dunne reveals how he finds strength from god and himself during dark times

“But sometimes there is nobody else to talk to, except your maker and sometimes he’s busy talking to someone else, so you have got to talk to yourself."

Ben Dunne outside his Ben Dunne Gym at Westpoint in Blanchardstown. Photo: Steve Humphreys Expand

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Ben Dunne outside his Ben Dunne Gym at Westpoint in Blanchardstown. Photo: Steve Humphreys

Ben Dunne outside his Ben Dunne Gym at Westpoint in Blanchardstown. Photo: Steve Humphreys

Ben Dunne outside his Ben Dunne Gym at Westpoint in Blanchardstown. Photo: Steve Humphreys

Neil Fetherstonhaugh

Ben Dunne has revealed how he says a prayer every day and talks to himself when his “maker is busy” to keep himself motivated.

Opening up to Brendan O’Connor on RTE radio today, the controversial businessman said he didn’t mind laughing about it.

He added: “But sometimes there is nobody else to talk to, except your maker and sometimes he’s busy talking to someone else, so you have got to talk to yourself”.

He said that at those moments he tells himself to “give me the strength to do nothing, and to hold my nerve. This will pass.”

Dunne, who was abducted in 1981 by Republican paramilitaries, said he had learned from that “not nice” experience how, “when you get yourself into a dark place, you will make more wrong decisions than right decisions”.

“The hardest thing to do, when you’re in that dark place, is to do nothing,” he told O’Connor.

“And by doing nothing, I think, a human being then will eventually make the right decision. From my limited experience, and I wouldn’t want it any other way, than (to say) limited, when you’re terrified, the only thing to do, is to do nothing or seek help from a psychiatrist, but don’t try and sort it out yourself.

“Talk about it to a professional. Don’t do anything,” he headed, “hold your ground, hold your nerve, that’s my advice.”

Speaking about the challenges people are facing in the current pandemic, he said: “The awful thing about (this particular pandemic), is that it affects somebody if they’re focusing on their business, they’re terrified about their business.

"And if they’re focusing on their health, they’re terrified about their health. If they’re focusing on their family, they’re terrified about their family and it goes right across the spectrum.

“This is a unique situation that we have never experienced.”

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