Ensuring 2020 starts with that all-important health kick, professional rugby 7’s star and Love Island winner, Greg O’Shea, has joined forces with one of Ireland’s top female boxers, Kellie Harrington, to support the second year of the ‘Everything starts with milk’ initiative, a European Milk Forum campaign focused on encouraging Irish consumers to drink more quality milk from Europe.

Greg and Kellie announced their roles as ambassadors at an ‘Everything starts with milk’ training day that took place at University College Dublin, which saw one boxing club, one rugby team and one hockey team win the chance to train with O’Shea and Harrington, as well as several members of the Irish Women’s hockey team who were also in attendance.

Talking about his support of the ‘Everything starts with milk’ campaign, Greg O’Shea said, “Maintaining a nutritional and well-balanced diet is essential when training to ensure we are performing to our best ability. Dairy plays a crucial part in a balanced diet and I am a great supporter of the sporting benefits gained from drinking milk when it comes to hydration and recovery.

It was great to have the opportunity through the ‘Everything starts with milk’ training day, to help educate our next generation of sports stars on why drinking milk is such an important factor in a performance diet and I am really looking forward to working alongside Kellie and the National Dairy Council on some more exciting European milk projects throughout 2020!”

Also supporting the campaign theme of ‘Everything starts with milk’ boxer Kellie Harrington said, “I was fortunate to have the opportunity to be involved in the NDC’s training day last year which was such a rewarding experience, so I am delighted to have been named as an official ambassador for the second year of the campaign! Eating well is essential for boxing like every sport and adapting your nutritional intake to your sport is a necessity, so it was great to have the opportunity once again to advise our young sports people on why consuming milk is such a key component in fuelling your body correctly for your sport.”

The pan-European campaign – supported locally by O’Shea and Harrington – is being implemented to highlight the importance of milk as an important dietary building block at all stages of life, from childhood growth and development to post-workout recovery.

The perfect post-performance recovery drink, milk is rich in protein – an important nutrient for muscle growth and maintenance – and provides a natural carbohydrate source to help refuel energy stores. A glass of milk offers an abundance of electrolytes in a fluid form to assist rehydration and provides a number of vitamins and minerals with important roles for health including calcium, phosphorous, and potassium to support bone health, iodine to contribute to normal cognitive brain function, vitamin B2 to assist with energy release, and vitamin B12 to support normal functioning of the immune system*.

Speaking about the launch of year two of the ‘Everything starts with milk’ campaign Jeanne Spillane, Marketing Manager at the National Dairy Council said, “We are delighted to welcome Greg and Kellie on board as our ambassadors for this year’s European Milk campaign. With Irish athletes currently competing on the world stage, 2020 is a big year for sport and a great time to celebrate our young Irish athletes and their impressive knowledge when it comes to health, fitness and nutrition.

We are looking forward to working alongside both Greg and Kellie this year to develop engaging content, activities and appearances that will highlight why dairy milk is a great choice post-exercise. As well as being an affordable, natural, versatile and widely available choice, milk also provides a range of vitamins and minerals supporting you both on and off the pitch or in the ring.”

*Research conducted by the National Dairy Council in Ireland

For futher information contact:
Cathy Currran, Communications Manager, National Dairy Council
+353 1 290 2518 | pr@ndc.ie