28/08/2012 The One Show

Hello and welcome to The One Show with Alex Jones. And Matt Baker. We

are joined by a couple of stadium fillers tonight. The first is a

singer with the most consecutive Top Ten hits in the UK. The other

is a runner who is the first amputee to run in both the Olympic

and Paralympic Games. Please welcome Ronan Keating. I and Oscar

Pistorius! Brilliant to see you both. It is a real treat. Two

lovely looking guys. Three. And you will stay with us for the whole

show. Oscar, we will talk about the Paralympics in a while, but first,

let's cast our mind back to the Olympics. What an incredible

reception he received in the Olympic Stadium. It was absolutely

mind-blowing. I felt like it was my home crowd. It was terrific. At

that moment, my grandmother, 89, was sitting on the home straight.

My family and friends were there. And the Olympic Games are over for

those athletes, but the brilliant thing for you is that it all starts

again. And it is the same. The same stadium, the stadiums are packed

and sold out, and it will be phenomenal. The athletes had

excited and are raring to go. I have seen some of them on the warm-

up track and they look pretty fierce. Have you moved out of the

village, or have you just stay there? It would have been a bit of

a ghost town in between, so I went back to Italy and had a race in

Warsaw, and then I packed my stuff and I have come back. It is nice to

be back in the village. Feels like a bit of deja-vu, but it is great.

I am excited. Ronan, you weren't in London for the Olympics, but you

did see it? I watched most of it. The coverage was unbelievable. What

a backdrop, London. A way you abroad? I was in Portugal with the

kids. I was travelling around Europe doing promo and so on.

you hoping to see the Paralympics? Are I am definitely going to catch

some next week. I have extra tickets. I will take a few of them!

Many of the Paralympic athletes like Oscar have dealt with

disability from childhood, but for some, it can happen suddenly.

time Paralympic gold medallist Marc Woods is in Stoke Mandeville to

find out why sport is so important to people who have had their lives

drastically changed through disability.

I never imagined I would take part in the Paralympic Games, MOBO when

I was 17, I was diagnosed with cancer and had my leg amputated. My

parents encouraged me to get into sport and exercise to help with my

recovery. Was I got into the pool, I felt as though my life was given

back to me. Before long, my swimming was my passion, my life

and my career. Using sport to help with rehabilitation started at

Stoke Mandeville Hospital in 1948. 52 years later, Stoke Mandeville

still leads the way in rehabilitation through sport. Many

of our Paralympians started their road to sporting success right here.

And with his new it to the spinal centre. Just months after breaking

his neck snowboarding, he is starting on the long road to being

active again. I used to snowboard for the thrill of it. I could see

myself doing sport now for different reasons. One is the

fitness. Being injured, you are more conscious of your body and

what you can and can't do. When I see Paralympians now coming into

the hospital, seeing what they can do inspires you to think, I may not

be able to do the marathon, but I should be able to go to the shops.

I know first hand how important it is to have sport to focus on after

everything changes in your life. Clare Dyer is responsible for

spinal rehabilitation at Stoke Mandeville. Not everybody is into

sport. Some people enjoy the arts side more. But where sport is

important is in enabling people to be stronger, improving their

balance in the early stages of their rehab, but also for some

people, competition is important and they used to take part in sport

preinjury. It is a cult -- good opportunity for them to start

getting interested in that side again of what might be part of

their life when they have left. stone's throw from the spinal

centre is a sports facility where both patience and Paralympians

train side by side. The Beijing Paralympics were playing on TV when

Nicky discovered she would never walk again after having a serious

car crash. It was a great time to break my back while Beijing was on,

because I had never seen the Paralympics before. So I watched

every sport that was on and the ones that I thought looked fun, I

e-mailed the federations and said I would like to give their sport a

goat. You were very proactive. It must be important to you. I didn't

want to be thought of as a disabled person. Then I saw the girls in the

wheelchair racing in Beijing. They were sitting in wheelchairs along

the start line, but the last thing you noticed was that they were in a

wheelchair, you just thought they looked like athletes. Through the

fast track Paralympic programme, I got into athletics. Was I had had a

go at racing and will chair speed, it was amazing. What are your

ambitions now? I hope one day, I will win some Paralympic medals. I

would like to go to Rio, maybe for triathlon, maybe track. We will see.

I am focusing on being at the Paralympics, which is better than

anything I would have been doing if I had not become disabled. A Oscar,

you summed it up perfectly. You are not disabled by the disabilities

you have, you are able by the abilities you have. In is a great

testament to every Paralympic athlete. No one focuses on their

disability, but rather on the abilities they still have. You have

said we are very forward-thinking over here as part of -- as far as

the Paralympics are concerned, and disabled sport. Why do you think

that? We travel extensively and I see a lot of people's perceptions

around the world when it comes to disability. Some countries, when it

comes to the education surrounding various disabilities, they are very

narrow-minded and there is a lot of stigma and stereotypes that exist.

I have been competing in the UK since 2004 at least once a year,

and I have come into contact with the media, and they are more in

touch and clued-up with disability. They are not shy to talk about the

various disabilities. The way they have approached the Paralympics has

been mind-blowing. They have not looked at it as disabled sports or

something to be shy of, let's look at it for what it is, a phenomenal

sport. It is full of triumphs and disappointments. It has got great

successes. It is not an inspiring, but it is hard core sport. There is

a lot of hype around the Paralympics, and the media have

labelled the Paralympic athletes as superhumans. How do you feel about

that? Is it putting too much pressure on? Not at all. Every

athlete is a superhuman, not only myself. They are great performers.

I watched some of the performances of the previous Paralympic Games

and some of the performances in these Olympic Games, and sometimes

you expect something of an athlete, and when they compete, you are left

speechless. Like, how did he do it? That is superhumans. And that makes

us watch it. How can you then compare the Olympics and the

Paralympics? In tis the most easy thing to compare. It all boils down

to not the most competitive nature between the athletes, but if

somebody can step out there and break their own personal best

regardless of what the competition is, if an athlete can step out

there and smash their record and give it their best, that is what we

need to command. Likewise, when they don't do well, you need to be

critical of their performance. But I saw some performances previously,

like David Rudisha's 400 and 800. I have seen women bench press more

than I can. That is superhuman. Let's see you in Beijing in 2008,

Everybody in the bird's nest is watching Oscar Pistorius. This

could be very special indeed. Oscar Pistorius is champion. Oh, my

goodness! Of how does it feel to run faster than anyone else?

That was terrible, actually! It was the last race after a very long

week. My time was 47.5, and I needed to run a lot quicker. I was

just sick during that time. It was a phenomenal experience being out

there, but ultimately I have always said I would rather come last and

run a personal best than run badly. Hopefully, I can redeem myself in

just over a week when I come out for the 400. You have had this

transitional period. What have you been doing? You are racing Jonnie

Peacock, who is a hot favourite. Brett exciting. In Beijing, I run

the 100, 200 and 400. Jonnie Peacock is a great contender. He is

doing the 100 metres. By the time he gets to the 100, I will have

cleared the 200 and half the 4 x 100. I am looking forward to this

event more than anything. I have lost 12 kilograms since Beijing to

be more efficient on the 400. But I am sure we will have a great time

on the 100. Jonnie Peacock is a great competitor. Are you happy

with just medals, or have they got to be gold? I am going to go out

there and have fun, and hopefully I can contribute to the evolution of

the sport. But yeah, always go for gold.

A well, in the days following the Olympic closing ceremony, a

specially built terminal at Heathrow handled all the overseas

athletes are eager to get home to their friends and families.

some of those athletes didn't just fail to check in, they never even

went to the airport. This year's Olympics gave Britain

more medals than any other games in the last 100 years. They also stand

to gain Britain a clutch of asylum- seekers. It has been reported that

21 competitors, mostly from African countries, did not fly home after

the Games. But no one will know for sure if they want to stay in the UK

into after their visas expire in November. One member of the

Eritrean team has gone public to tell us about why he made the

decision to stay. There is no guarantee that he will be allowed

to, of course, but he told me through an interpreter the reasons

why he wants to stay. TRANSLATION: I am an athlete, but at the same

time, I am a forcibly conscripted soldier. I didn't have any sort of

freedom. I enjoyed -- that I enjoyed during my stay in the UK.

What do you think the reaction will be from the government back in

Eritrea? I will be accused of treason. They will charge me. And

if you are accused of such serious allegations, without any rights,

you will be executed. So my life would be in danger. For some people,

international sporting events are the only chance they get to flee

their homeland. After the Sydney Games, 83 members of the Olympic

family remained illegally. Closer to home at the 2002 Commonwealth

Games in Manchester, 20 members of the Sierra Leone team simply

vanished. The number of people claiming asylum has dropped

dramatically over the last decade. Last year, nearly 20,000 people

applied for asylum, but only 4309 were successful. Of those, 615 came

from Eritrea's, a country there was found by a United Nations report to

subject its army conscript members to torture and forced labour.

Asylum is a very specific thing, and the UK has signed up to the

refugee Convention. That allows a country to grant asylum to somebody

if a person has a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race,

religion, nationality, political opinion or membership of a social

group. It is not the case, as is sometimes perceived, that they are

free to come and go as they please. They will report to the border

agency regularly so that they are aware of their whereabouts all the

time. And they are heavily scrutinised. The reality of the

asylum process for this man is that he is told where he has to live, he

is under a night-time curfew and he is not allowed to earn any money.

He says if he is granted asylum, he wants to work and continue running.

Who knows, he could one day be competing for Team GB. He and his

translator, who has lived in the UK for nine years after being banned

and asylum, insist that welfare handouts are not the reason they

have come. There is a perception that asylum seekers choose the UK

because it is a soft touch and has a good benefits system. Not at all.

I disagree. All they want is personal freedom and to be part of

that society. That is why a lot of people come to the UK. They feel

they are part of British society, the people are more tolerant,

understanding people. And there are opportunities to express yourself

and be part of society. If the other Olympic athletes who fail to

go home have not applied for asylum by the end of November, when their

visas expire, they will become over Stayers. They will become subject

to what is called administrative removal. That is where the border

agency, if they can locate them, will remove them from the UK.

person disappears, what are the chances of tracking them down?

his difficult to say. There are obviously problems, and there are

an unknown number of people in the UK who do not have immigration

status, but have disappeared into the system. As for this man, he now

faces an anxious wait to hear if his application is successful. Is

it your plant that Mike was it always your plan to come to the

Olympics and stay? TRANSLATION: Exactly the same

question that you put to me now was asked by the Home Office and the

interviewing officer. And I said to her, the only reason that I remain

in this country is not something that I had planned previously,

prior to coming to the UK. If the British public wants me, it would

be a pleasure to be a champion for Ronin, you're a back with an album

for the first time in six years. Where have you been? I've been here

a few times! And you studio album, it is interesting. The last album

was the Burt Bacharach album. I had done covers albums, but this is a

brand new studio album, 12 brand- new songs. You being open and

saying the last few months have been very difficult for you. Is

that reflected in his music? definitely draw from your emotions

as a writer and performer. You draw from those emotions, but it is not

autobiographical in any way. first single is called Fires. What

is that about? It is an uptown opportune. -- up-tempo. I'd guess

it is a song about me moving forward, taking the next step and

moving on. In the video it is me saying goodbye to an old me and

moving on. You worked on this album with the same people who wrote Life

Is A Rollercoaster. Grey Alexander is back. This has to be one of the

catchiest songs of all time! Faces up for most -- this is up for most

summer-long song or something. when we mentioned it for Oscar, he

said he loved it. Coming out of the subway... We thought we would get

some fans with a few questions and of course they are on board a

Are a # Life Is A Rollercoaster. We love you! Life might be a

roller-coaster,... Are what? I didn't hear what she said. That was

Kate and Katie. Life may be a roller-coaster, but how do you

really get your thrills? I have a motorcycle, I liked to ride my

motorcycle. That is how I get mine. You like a motorbike. What I ride

motorcycles, yes. Another question. Have you ever lost your voice?

heard that one! On my first solo tour, I was touring the UK and

Ireland, and the last show was in Belfast. 10,000 people. Walked out

on stage, no voice whatsoever. Totally gone. Her what did you do?

The most frightening thing I've gone through. I had to give the

microphone to the audience and let them sing. My band were helping.

Weirdly enough, as I went through it, bits-and-pieces were there. It

was one of the best gigs I've ever done in the end. They all loved it.

Does it play on your mind? After that it really did. I was stressed

out. It was wear and tear and not looking after my voice. I've

learned a lot from that. Very cautious now. Let's have one more.

The queue for this ride is very long, have you used your celebrity

to get to the front of the Ku? I have. Terrible! What situation?

When you are rushing through an airport and you are late for a

flight, sometimes... You jumped to the top of the security queue and

you get through quickly. I've been with my kids. It was probably

EuroDisney. It was the last ride and we had to go because we would

miss the flight and the kids wanted to go on this thing. You run to the

top of the queue and hope somebody will recognise you. I am never

going to live this down! It is funny you were saying about losing

your voice because apparently my microphone has gone so I have to

use this! You've caught the acting bug as well recently. Yes, I made

my first film last year, Goddess, which is out in February. A

romantic comedy. All of the Boyzone fans will be thinking, have you got

time to do a 20th anniversary tour? Her I hope so, we are talking about

doing it next year. Maybe an album and a tour. Good news. In a proper

showbiz way I will tell you that the new album, Fires, is out on

Monday. The dislike Top Of The Pops! The Republic of Ireland has

always been a neutral country and in World War to that lead to an

extraordinary uprising among the army and the repercussions lasted

way beyond the conflict. Larry Lamb went to Dublin to hear about

Britain's Irish soldiers. Dublin, capital of the Republic of

Ireland. During the Second World War, thousands of men left the

southern Irish are made without permission. They deserted, one of

the worst crimes the soldier can commit. But the fascinating thing

is they were not being cowardly of running away from danger, in fact,

many of them were doing the opposite and putting their lives on

the line. During the war, the Irish government stuck to its rigid

policy of neutrality. While the Allies fought the Nazis, the

soldier ants -- soldiers and Ireland were watching from the

sidelines or posing for the cameras. So thousands of Irish soldiers

deserted, some left to find better- paying jobs, but many wanted to see

some real action and help stop the Nazis. For a joint for British Army

instead and went to war. -- they joined the British Army. When the

war was over here, the Irish soldiers knew they would be in

trouble for deserting so many came home expecting to be court-

martialled. But they were wrong. After initially car -- court

martial in some soldiers, the Irish game -- government came up with a

quicker solution. They dismissed 4983 deserters in one fell swoop.

And they put their names on a blacklist which made getting a job

or claiming welfare almost impossible. Peter has been

campaigning for a pardon for men on the list. This list was distributed

right across the hall a violent, it right down to the Post Office, the

library, the council office. If somebody was on this list, you

couldn't get a job. It was mainly in the rural areas... We working

for the council. You were bought -- you were barred. They were angry

about it. These are Defence Force personnel and they are entitled to

military law and to be treated according to military law and the

right to a fair hearing. So these men were actually entitled to a

court martial? Exactly. But the list punished more than just the

soldiers whose names were on it. Many of the men were fathers with

families and with no work, there was no food on the table. Many of

the family's experience extreme hardship. The list was only

supposed a barman from state employment for seven years, but

many felt its impact for the rest of their lives. In Britain, these

men would have been welcomed home as war heroes, but the Irish

government at the time thought it was a fair solution to the problem

of dealing with so many deserters. They didn't have the administrative

capacity to court martial them. It was felt maybe it was easier to

make such a list, one-size-fits-all, put it together and then you've

dealt with it. Shouldn't the fact that some of these men had fought

the Nazis have made the difference? You would think so, but one of the

questions... You have a list of 4983 names, you know they deserted

the Irish defence forces, but we don't know what happened to them. A

large proportion probably joined the Allies, but we can't say for

certain. We also know a proportion would have joined in the economic

war effort in Britain. But there also be a minority who just

vanished into the woodwork across the border, maybe across into the

larger cities in the UK and we don't know where they went. For the

Irish government has now announced an amnesty. But only for the men on

the list who deserted to fight with the Allies, not for any who

deserted to find better-paying jobs or simply disappear. Without proper

records, we can't possibly know how many of the names this amnesty

applies to, but that is not the point. De point is that the few

surviving deserters will know and so will the families of those who

have passed away. For all of them, this is a very private reprieve.

The feedback I'm getting is that the families are very happy. This

has removed the stigma. Historical baggage has been taken off their

backs. Dan has joined us to talk about this. Have you heard about

this? I know nothing about this, it is really interesting. I would like

to learn more. Why have they issued an amnesty now? It is a long time

and Britain and Ireland have resolved their differences. They

are normalising relations and the Queen was the first British head of

state to visit Ireland since independence. She visited some

Republican sites and did some good diplomacy. It is about forgiving

and moving on. What was the strength of the feeling against

Britain? I've got a lot of Irish friends. Amongst people, there was

never vicious anti- British or anti-Irish feeling. The Irish

government was particularly hostile because the Irish government was

dominated by Sinn Fein. The head of the government had actually been

condemned to death by the British Army. They have fought of Fischer's

war. This was a long time ago for top of the British Army was the

absolute enemy, particularly in government circles. It seems hard

for us to believe now, but at the time for British had carried out

war crimes in Ireland. A lot of Irish people could not believe

there would be Irish people willing to fight for the British Army.

the magazine... If they celebrated the Queen's coronation, they were

banned in Ireland. If you wore poppies to certain pubs around

Remembrance Day, you might have somebody having a word. But that

has changed. One situation the same in other neutral countries? People

were desperate not to get brought into this war. Places like

Switzerland, people were actually prosecuted for helping Jewish

people escape from Germany. It seems incredible. The Swiss

government was desperate not to take sides. In America, before they

joined the war, you risked losing citizenship if you signed up for

one of the protagonists. By you feeling outnumbered? A little bit

but I like it! Tomorrow we are going to be in Sheffield because

the One Show is going on tour and Mike is there. He is preparing for

top who have you got? I've got Barney the barn owl and

tomorrow we will be at Endcliffe Park, part of a massive

extravaganza that is the One Show roadshow. Tomorrow, all being well,

on the stage over there, Carrie Grant will be teaching the audience

how to sing as part of a massive choir. Also, Marty Jopson will be

doing a massive science demonstration. A lot of tents

around us. Angellica Bell will be co-ordinating a huge piece of One

Show art. Sarah Jarvis will be doing her Street doctor clinic,

Christine Walkden will be dispensing pearls of wisdom about

gardening and Gyles Brandreth will be talking history. It starts

tomorrow, please come down. It will be brilliant! Are very well behaved

Bonnell! The weather looks great at the moment. That is the One Show

road show tomorrow from 12 noon at Endcliffe Park in Sheffield. And it

is free. Why not finish your school holiday with a trip to Sheffield.

Oscar, tomorrow you will be holding the flag. Yes, really excited! Last

time I was in Sheffield it rained for days and days. Thanks for that!

I am looking forward to tomorrow. What technique... The flag is quite

hard so my technique is to get protein shake. Thank you into our

guests. Ronan Keating's album Fires is out on Monday. And thank you to