Latest / The Irish Steelers Podcast / Pat Freiermuth & Rod Woodson join us from Dublin

Transcript

Pat Freiermuth & Rod Woodson join us from Dublin · The Irish Steelers Podcast

0:00
Speaker 1: Irish airline aer Lingus will proudly serve as the presenting
0:03
Speaker 1: partner of Steelers Ireland twenty twenty five. Airlingus's growth in
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Speaker 1: North America continues in twenty twenty five as the airline
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Speaker 1: prepares to fly to two new US destinations, Nashville and Indianapolis,
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Speaker 1: using its new Airbus eight three twenty one xl or aircraft.
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Speaker 1: This brings the number of transatlantic routes operated by the
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Speaker 1: airline from Dublin, Shannon and Manchester to twenty four. Steelers
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Speaker 1: fans traveling to Ireland for the Big Game can enjoy
0:27
Speaker 1: a relaxing journey when they fly with air Lingus. Air Lingus,
0:31
Speaker 1: You're very welcome.
0:41
Speaker 2: Hello folks, and welcoming to the Irisheelers podcast presented by Erlingus.
0:46
Speaker 2: Irish Airline Aerlingus has just alliance plans to become an
0:49
Speaker 2: official airline partner of the Pittsburgh Steelers. As a founding
0:53
Speaker 2: partner of Steelers Ireland, Aerlingus will be welcoming the Steelers
0:56
Speaker 2: and all of Steelers Station to Dublin this autumn for
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Speaker 2: what's set to be a fe fantastic NFL showdown. If
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Speaker 2: you're listening to this outside of Ireland. You can book
1:04
Speaker 2: your flight to Dublin now at erlingus dot com to
1:07
Speaker 2: make sure you don't miss out on any of the action. Well,
1:11
Speaker 2: you're very welcome, folks. Back to the Iris Staelers podcast.
1:14
Speaker 2: A few weeks past the NFL combine. The Steelers have
1:17
Speaker 2: been in Ireland over the last few days. More information
1:20
Speaker 2: to come on out in a few minutes, but we
1:24
Speaker 2: have just entered free agency and there are deals coming
1:27
Speaker 2: thick and fast, and we will probably take time in
1:30
Speaker 2: next week's podcast to go through that whenever they've been
1:33
Speaker 2: confirmed by the Staelers officially. I just want to take
1:36
Speaker 2: a few moments to start this podcast off today just
1:39
Speaker 2: to talk about the very very sad news which has
1:42
Speaker 2: taken place this week. And if you aren't aware of, folks,
1:45
Speaker 2: a guy that was very close to this podcast. We've
1:47
Speaker 2: been going for about two years now since the Steelers
1:50
Speaker 2: under the NFL Global Markets sigame and a guy called
1:54
Speaker 2: Craig Wolfe you'll know from SNR, has came on numerous
1:58
Speaker 2: times and Craig passed away at the start of the
2:02
Speaker 2: week at the age of only sixty six. And I
2:06
Speaker 2: think for a lot of states like look for a
2:08
Speaker 2: lot of Staters fans around the world. You know, Craig
2:12
Speaker 2: obviously down the Black and Gold, but Craig gave his
2:15
Speaker 2: life to this team through playing in later years stream media.
2:21
Speaker 2: I think a lot of us are shocked but also
2:23
Speaker 2: just saddened at the loss of such a bigger than
2:27
Speaker 2: life figure. That guy Craig was just a lovely man.
2:33
Speaker 2: And just to Craig's family listening and on to his friends,
2:38
Speaker 2: listening to on his colleagues that worked with him over
2:42
Speaker 2: recent years on Staters media, we just are sending our
2:47
Speaker 2: thoughts and prayers to you right now at this difficult time.
2:50
Speaker 2: Craig was a great friend in this podcast, but also
2:52
Speaker 2: I seen first hand on different zoom calls on the
2:56
Speaker 2: interviews that we've done with Craig, his energy, enthusiasm and
3:01
Speaker 2: his genuine interest in the Steelers growth in Ireland. He
3:06
Speaker 2: was so excited to see that, and I know he
3:08
Speaker 2: was so excited to get over here for the game
3:11
Speaker 2: this year, and unfortunately it's not going to happen. But
3:14
Speaker 2: I remember speaking to him and Max on the daily
3:17
Speaker 2: game was announced and he was wasn't And I think,
3:21
Speaker 2: like a lot of people, especially people listening to this podcast,
3:24
Speaker 2: you would have been very, very shocked to hear the
3:26
Speaker 2: news on Monday. But you know, just to say that
3:31
Speaker 2: Craig will always be remembered as a friend of this podcast,
3:34
Speaker 2: but also at the start of it all a great
3:37
Speaker 2: man and many recipes. So, folks, the Pittsburgh Steelers have
3:47
Speaker 2: been in Ireland this week, number of things going on.
3:51
Speaker 2: We've had Pat friar Mouth in Dublin over the last
3:55
Speaker 2: few days along with members of the Pittsburgh Steels organization,
3:58
Speaker 2: including Dan Rooney, as we get ready for a massive
4:03
Speaker 2: game coming to Dublin later this year in Croke Park
4:07
Speaker 2: as the Steelers come to town. Dates and opponent will
4:11
Speaker 2: be finalized as per Henry Hodgin nfl UKGM around early
4:16
Speaker 2: May or just before the official schedule lease. We're really
4:20
Speaker 2: looking forward to that. But I know that we've seen,
4:22
Speaker 2: if you've been following along in Staeters, Ireland on the
4:25
Speaker 2: social media channels, that Pat Fryarmouth has been in Dublin city.
4:29
Speaker 2: He's been getting tours, food tours in the city. He
4:33
Speaker 2: had a chance to go to the rugby on Saturday
4:35
Speaker 2: as well when Ireland played France. And I have to say,
4:37
Speaker 2: if you're a Steelers fan, listening to this podcast, or
4:40
Speaker 2: if you're just a general NFL fan who maybe might
4:44
Speaker 2: not have ties to the Stails, but you're adopting them
4:47
Speaker 2: for this year, You're very welcome. But I know everyone's
4:51
Speaker 2: looking at this going this is fantastic to see an
4:53
Speaker 2: NFL player in the off season rock over here and
4:56
Speaker 2: have the crack. Because I had the chance on You're
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Speaker 2: here in a minute. I had the and to speak
5:00
Speaker 2: to Pat today and he genuine he was so happy
5:04
Speaker 2: to be in Ireland and his first time out of
5:07
Speaker 2: the States as well, which is just so so interesting.
5:09
Speaker 2: He's been over here as well, and we've had legendary
5:12
Speaker 2: Steeler Rod Woodson in town as well for a flag
5:15
Speaker 2: football clinic which took place today at Croke Park Stadium.
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Speaker 2: Young boys, young girls taking part in different drills, the
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Speaker 2: first of its kind in Croke Park. And do you
5:25
Speaker 2: know what, as a football fan first and foremost, to
5:28
Speaker 2: see these young kids have the opportunity to play on
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Speaker 2: a hallow turf is special. That is special. It was
5:35
Speaker 2: a special day in Dublin and we're gonna hear from
5:39
Speaker 2: pot Farmy. First off, Pat was in great forms. You
5:42
Speaker 2: can hear him now and you can listen to Pat
5:44
Speaker 2: farm with here on the Irishivers podcast. Pat Falter, Welcome
5:49
Speaker 2: to Ireland. Your first time here? How are you doing?
5:51
Speaker 3: Oh?
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Speaker 4: I love it. It's a great experience, beautiful country and
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Speaker 4: it's awesome.
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Speaker 2: You had the chance to head over it's obviously your
5:57
Speaker 2: first time over here, but you had the chance to
5:59
Speaker 2: go to the EV on Saturday. The result didn't go
6:01
Speaker 2: Island's way, but from looking afar, you seem to have
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Speaker 2: a very very good time. Did you enjoy yourself?
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Speaker 4: Yeah, I had a really good time. It was cool
6:07
Speaker 4: to just kind of see, you know, the culture, you know,
6:11
Speaker 4: the environment of of what it's going to be like
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Speaker 4: playing here. You know, the people were great, the atmosphere
6:16
Speaker 4: is great, very competitive, but it was cool to see why.
6:17
Speaker 4: That was my first rugby game I saw in person,
6:19
Speaker 4: so it was cool to just kind of see, you know,
6:21
Speaker 4: the guys compete.
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Speaker 2: I was at the game on Christmas and the Chiefs
6:24
Speaker 2: and the stadium is very similar to here. You've got
6:26
Speaker 2: obviously a sort of side. What's your first fault to
6:28
Speaker 2: the stadium? Can you imagine what it's going to be
6:30
Speaker 2: like later on in the year.
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Speaker 3: Man?
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Speaker 4: The stadium is big, you know, the field's massive. You know,
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Speaker 4: it's gonna be great to see it all packed out.
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Speaker 4: It's gonna be loud, it's gonna be awesome.
6:39
Speaker 2: How much do you guys embrace the connection that the
6:42
Speaker 2: Rooney family have to this island? Is that something that
6:44
Speaker 2: you guys are very aware of in the locker room
6:46
Speaker 2: and is that sort of talked about at a general
6:48
Speaker 2: level with the team.
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Speaker 4: Yeah, it is, you know, obviously, you know, we we
6:51
Speaker 4: embraced the tradition of the Rooney family, the connection to Ireland.
6:55
Speaker 4: You know, their you know, their culture and and everything
6:58
Speaker 4: like that. And it's super cool to you know, having
7:01
Speaker 4: hit home for you know, our organization that we're gonna
7:03
Speaker 4: come over here and play a big time game whenever
7:06
Speaker 4: it is, whoever it's against, and we're excited to be
7:08
Speaker 4: able to out here and compete.
7:10
Speaker 2: Even quite the weekend. He met Hugo Keenan, I believe
7:12
Speaker 2: on Monday as well. You're having great crack going around
7:14
Speaker 2: Dublin trying to food. What's your faughts of Dublin as
7:16
Speaker 2: a city just.
7:17
Speaker 4: Generally Dublin's awesome. The people are very nice, you know,
7:20
Speaker 4: Like you said, meeting Hugo, he gave me his Jersey.
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Speaker 4: They was so super cool, can't wait the frame it
7:24
Speaker 4: and hanging in the basement and stuff like that. But
7:26
Speaker 4: you know, the food, the food's been pretty good and
7:29
Speaker 4: you know, the people are working nice and so it's
7:30
Speaker 4: it's cool. It's gonna be cool to come back here
7:32
Speaker 4: for the season and have my family, my teammates experience.
7:36
Speaker 2: It first in an optional game for the theaters in
7:38
Speaker 2: over ten years. The last one was in London and
7:41
Speaker 2: what's your faults? But actually going going to actually play,
7:43
Speaker 2: I know what we're not gonna talk about when it is,
7:45
Speaker 2: but just generally as a player going out trying to
7:47
Speaker 2: adjust to it. It's not too bad in the sense
7:49
Speaker 2: it's five six hours away. How excited is the whole
7:51
Speaker 2: team when they when they find out about it?
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Speaker 4: Very excited, obviously, you said, you know, with the mister Rooney,
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Speaker 4: the Runey's connection, the Stills organization to Ireland, it's a
7:59
Speaker 4: big it's a big hunted to come out here and
8:01
Speaker 4: play and represent you know, the Steelers logo and the
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Speaker 4: Rooney family. So you know, we're very excited to come
8:05
Speaker 4: out here and compete and you know play Patrick.
8:09
Speaker 2: First thing. I'm presuming there's a virus blod there some
8:11
Speaker 2: patricks that next week.
8:11
Speaker 3: No, yeah, yeah.
8:12
Speaker 4: So my my mom's maiden name is Fully and so
8:15
Speaker 4: you know, my my great great grandfather, he he's from
8:19
Speaker 4: Claire County. His family from Claire County. So hey, they
8:22
Speaker 4: came over the States, and so we have a deep
8:24
Speaker 4: connection to the Ireland as well.
8:25
Speaker 2: A couple of ones just to finish off. Firstly, Gaelic football.
8:28
Speaker 2: Have you seen it Herland? Do you want to try it?
8:30
Speaker 2: What's the plan over the next day?
8:31
Speaker 4: So are gonna, yeah, I might try it. It looks
8:34
Speaker 4: pretty challenging, so I'm excited to kind of like, you know,
8:36
Speaker 4: figure it out and learn it. You know, respect to
8:38
Speaker 4: all the athletes that do that. That's that's a tough
8:40
Speaker 4: sport to do.
8:41
Speaker 2: Finally, look, I'm not gonna go win the player talk,
8:42
Speaker 2: but senior post a bit nausey. I thought it was
8:45
Speaker 2: very heartwarming. Shows you, hih close the team is and
8:46
Speaker 2: I know, I know you guys are gonna miss them.
8:48
Speaker 4: Yeah yeah, yeah. He's like my best friend on the
8:50
Speaker 4: team and so obviously you know, we got drafted together
8:52
Speaker 4: and stuff, so you know it's gonna be sad without him.
8:55
Speaker 4: But you know, I'm very happy for you know the
8:57
Speaker 4: future of the Steelers and you know the direction we're going,
8:59
Speaker 4: and very happy for him, and you know the opportunity
9:02
Speaker 4: presents itself in LA for him. So you know, obviously
9:05
Speaker 4: you know I'm gonna miss him, but you know I'm
9:06
Speaker 4: excited to you know, go forward with the guys on
9:08
Speaker 4: our team and compete for Super Bowl.
9:10
Speaker 2: I hope you enjoyed the rest of the off season
9:11
Speaker 2: and thanks for shotting to us. As we say in Ireland,
9:13
Speaker 2: Germ Walgat, Pat, enjoy the rest of your timeer, Thanks
9:15
Speaker 2: very much, thank you. Great to hear from Pop on
9:20
Speaker 2: the Irish Theaters podcast Pad. You're welcome back to Ireland anytime.
9:24
Speaker 2: I have a feeling to be back here at some
9:25
Speaker 2: point this year. Great to hear from Pop in Dublin.
9:29
Speaker 2: We've also heard from legendary Pittsburgh Stater, a guy that
9:33
Speaker 2: just first off, I'm not sure if many people know this,
9:36
Speaker 2: maybe in a younger generation, but a guy that's been
9:38
Speaker 2: very friendly to the cause of growing American football in Ireland.
9:43
Speaker 2: Legendary Stater Rod Wilson. Rod has not just with the
9:46
Speaker 2: Pittsburgh Steters, but also with American football Ireland. Put a
9:49
Speaker 2: lot of hard, hard work into the game here over
9:52
Speaker 2: the last few years, hosting different clinics and other events.
9:56
Speaker 2: It's certainly not his first time here in Ireland, but
9:58
Speaker 2: he actually missed the game in nineteen ninety seven by
10:01
Speaker 2: one year, so to see him today and Krew Park
10:04
Speaker 2: was not honor. You can listen to rodnine. Okay, we're
10:11
Speaker 2: here at Crew Park in Dublin with the legendary Steeler
10:14
Speaker 2: Rod Woodson. Rod. I know you're not a strangers of
10:16
Speaker 2: this island, but Falter, how are you doing.
10:18
Speaker 3: I'm doing great, love the area, little nippy coat outside,
10:22
Speaker 3: but it's it reminds me of being back.
10:25
Speaker 2: Home in Indiana, Indiana. I was over at the Combine
10:27
Speaker 2: a couple of weeks ago. We might get a chance
10:29
Speaker 2: to chat up at that a little second for what's
10:30
Speaker 2: ahead now, But you're obviously over here for a fantastic
10:34
Speaker 2: flag camp. A lot has changed. I know you've done
10:36
Speaker 2: an awful lot for football in this island. How proud
10:38
Speaker 2: are you now in terms of how this game has
10:40
Speaker 2: developed and what you've seen over the last few years,
10:42
Speaker 2: especially with the impact and what the Steelers have done.
10:44
Speaker 3: Yeah, it is great to see what the Steelers have done.
10:49
Speaker 3: It's great to see the growth of the sport. And
10:52
Speaker 3: what I love about flag football. It's exclusive, so the
10:56
Speaker 3: girls can play, the boys can play. It's going to
10:59
Speaker 3: be an Olympics sport.
11:00
Speaker 2: Yeah.
11:00
Speaker 3: And and for the young kids, they learning how to
11:04
Speaker 3: play the game at a baseline at the grassroots level,
11:07
Speaker 3: and hopefully they can keep playing as they get older.
11:11
Speaker 2: You obviously play for the Staters until ninety six, so
11:13
Speaker 2: you missed the game in Ireland by.
11:17
Speaker 3: Six months.
11:18
Speaker 2: You're looking around here now it has change a little bit.
11:20
Speaker 2: We had a couple of guys here before when the
11:22
Speaker 2: announcement was meet and they were talking about how different
11:24
Speaker 2: the stadium is. What do you think of the stadium?
11:25
Speaker 3: Right? I love the stadium. I love the I mean
11:29
Speaker 3: the first the how much field space you have, because
11:32
Speaker 3: in the NFL stadium is just like this, the field
11:35
Speaker 3: space is smaller, and then the stadium is like right
11:38
Speaker 3: on top of you, but you're kind of spread out
11:40
Speaker 3: a little bit. I love the area. I love the
11:42
Speaker 3: way it is. I love the how the sound echoes
11:45
Speaker 3: off and comes back down to the ground.
11:48
Speaker 2: And I'm sure you can't wait to see what it's
11:49
Speaker 2: like here in the autumn. Talk to us about your
11:51
Speaker 2: time with the Staters on the relationship that you've had
11:54
Speaker 2: with the Rooney family, which hasn't stopped since you've laughed.
11:56
Speaker 2: It's it's evolved.
11:58
Speaker 3: I mean, you know, I was here when when the
12:01
Speaker 3: Chief was still around. Yes, and then you know mister
12:04
Speaker 3: Rooney who passed away in twenty seventeen. Then Art and
12:08
Speaker 3: then now Dan is here, so several generations of the
12:12
Speaker 3: Rooney family. And the great thing about it not as
12:16
Speaker 3: a lot as a lot has changed because they kept
12:19
Speaker 3: it so much like a family and when you're a
12:22
Speaker 3: part of your family. They've done one great thing and
12:25
Speaker 3: they've had a great history of you know, to run
12:28
Speaker 3: one of probably the best franchises in all of sports,
12:31
Speaker 3: and the way they treat their employees, the way they
12:33
Speaker 3: treat their players, and the players love playing in Pittsburgh.
12:37
Speaker 3: It's one of those towns that you know, when they
12:40
Speaker 3: bring that game here and the fourth quarter starts and
12:43
Speaker 3: they played running game and the terrible towels start flying around,
12:47
Speaker 3: it's going to be a nice experience for everybody.
12:49
Speaker 2: I can imagine this just finally for me. You know,
12:52
Speaker 2: we'll talk about that game at a different point because it's
12:54
Speaker 2: down the stretch. But you know the game has evolved
12:56
Speaker 2: since you played in the sansol of teams. Can I
12:58
Speaker 2: market in different countries? Have you had the chance to
13:00
Speaker 2: play in an ostionally yourself or have you been to
13:02
Speaker 2: any games in Antionally. I'm just just on that road.
13:04
Speaker 2: I have a feeling that this is going to be
13:06
Speaker 2: very special. It could set the mark for games in
13:08
Speaker 2: an oly when this happens later on in the year.
13:10
Speaker 3: Yeah. I mean, well, so when when I was playing,
13:13
Speaker 3: we did it in the preseason. They were called American
13:15
Speaker 3: buss so we did one in Barcelona. We didn't one
13:18
Speaker 3: in Tokyo, we didn't want in Mexico. I think there
13:24
Speaker 3: was one more country that we did it in, but
13:26
Speaker 3: it was kind of like a precursor of what it
13:28
Speaker 3: was going to be like during the regular season. The
13:30
Speaker 3: difference is it's the regular season. The regular season and
13:33
Speaker 3: the preseason are completely different. The regular season counts. But
13:37
Speaker 3: what it did for us, we loved it, like we went.
13:40
Speaker 3: We did one in Tokyo and I did one in Barcelona,
13:44
Speaker 3: and we love the area going out being a part
13:47
Speaker 3: of it. Being in the preseason where we didn't have
13:48
Speaker 3: to do a whole bunch, and I think for the
13:51
Speaker 3: regular season though people. I think the guys like it
13:54
Speaker 3: because they come to another country and it' see a
13:56
Speaker 3: different culture, but they get an experience from an aspect of.
14:02
Speaker 2: Somebody up Like some guys don't even leave in the country,
14:04
Speaker 2: you know.
14:04
Speaker 3: So a lot of the guys have never left the
14:06
Speaker 3: country pat first time, his first time, so it's like
14:11
Speaker 3: for him to have that experience going out of the country,
14:15
Speaker 3: but doing it with his team and his buddies is
14:17
Speaker 3: that I think he'll never forget it.
14:20
Speaker 2: Well, look, thank you for all you've done. I know
14:21
Speaker 2: for people that's aen of this. You've done an awful
14:23
Speaker 2: lot for American football Ireland that continue to do so,
14:25
Speaker 2: thank you very much. I don't think the game would
14:27
Speaker 2: be in the position it is today.
14:28
Speaker 3: Why people like.
14:28
Speaker 2: Yourself so prim Morgan, is that we say over here
14:30
Speaker 2: in Ireland and hopefully we'll see you in a few months. Wrong,
14:32
Speaker 2: thank you very much, appreciate it, Thank you, thank you.
14:37
Speaker 2: Great to hear from Rod and also great to hear
14:39
Speaker 2: from pod Fran on a Little Blitz edition of the
14:42
Speaker 2: Irish Theaters podcast, and you can check out Steers dot
14:45
Speaker 2: com Slash Ireland for information obviously on the game in
14:47
Speaker 2: Dublin this year, but more so everything that the guys
14:50
Speaker 2: got up to in Ireland over the last few days.
14:53
Speaker 2: It's been a memorable few days and I know that
14:55
Speaker 2: the sailors have got a lot planned over the next
14:58
Speaker 2: few months. We're going to have a little and Patrick's
15:00
Speaker 2: Today Spacial labisode next week in this podcast. So if
15:02
Speaker 2: you're enjoying us, please do like, share, subscribe and we
15:05
Speaker 2: will chat to you soon on the Irish Savers podcast.
15:12
Speaker 1: Irish Airline aer Lingus will proudly serve as the presenting
15:15
Speaker 1: partner of Steelers Ireland twenty twenty five. Airlingus's growth in
15:19
Speaker 1: North America continues in twenty twenty five as the airline
15:22
Speaker 1: prepares to fly to two new US destinations, Nashville and Indianapolis,
15:26
Speaker 1: using its new Airbus eight three twenty one xl or aircraft.
15:30
Speaker 1: This brings the number of Transatlantic routes operated by the
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Speaker 1: airline from Dublin, Shannon and Manchester to twenty four. Steelers
15:37
Speaker 1: fans traveling to Ireland for the Big Game can enjoy
15:39
Speaker 1: a relaxing journey when they fly with air Lingus. Air Lingus,
15:43
Speaker 1: You're very welcome