The Laois man working at his fourth British and Irish Lions Tour

Laois man Shane Whelan has a bird's eye view of one of the world's biggest sporting event this year. As Director of Digital Marketing and Communictions with the British and Irish Lions, he's currently in Australia for this year's tour. It's his fourth tour to work on, having been in Australia in 2013, New Zealand in 2017 and South Africa in 2021. From Abbeyleix, he previously worked in communications roles with Basketball Ireland and the IRFU before moving to the role with the Lions where he oversees their considerable marketing, communications and social media operation. On this week's LoveLaois Podcast he chats about what the role entails, the team he oversees, being in the dressing room for some of the big moments and being away from his family for long spells of time. This episode was recorded on Tuesday of last week while Shane was in Brisbane ahead of the warmup game against the Queensland Reds. They then moved to Sydney to play the NSW Waratahs on Saturday and they play the ACT Brumbies in Canberra this Saturday. Indeed it's a tour that sees them traverse Australia - from Perth to Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra, Adelaide and Melbourne. The first test against Australia takes place in Brisbane on July 19 with the second and third tests in Melbourne and Sydney on the subsequent Saturdays.