Month: September 2021

VIKKI WALL, FOR one, was certainly taken aback by the positive response.

On last month’s ladies football All-Stars programme on TG4, the Meath All-Ireland winner opened up about the regular verbal abuse — related to her weight — she has been subjected to from the sideline and stands while playing inter-county football.

The 2020 Intermediate Players’ Player of the Year used her winning interview to speak about her horrific experiences for the first time.

“To be honest from 2017 to 2019, I heard something in every single game about my weight,” she told ‘Peil na mBan – Foirne na Bliana – le AIG Insurance,’ recalling how she once got a call from an opposition manager apologising for what he had said, and how a woman next to her mother in the stand said that Wall was “too fat to play football”.

The Dunboyne ace’s brave and powerful account shone a light on an issue that is often swept under the carpet, and sparked plenty of conversation online.

Wall came in for high praise for sharing her story and using her platform for the better, and her experience seems to have resonated with many.

Huge admiration for Vikki Wall opening up on this.

The Intermediate ⁦@LadiesFootball⁩ Player of the Year used her winning interview to speak about the regular — and horrific — verbal abuse she has been subjected to on the pitch.

Brave & powerful. https://t.co/W2mAQdpViu

— Emma Duffy (@emmaduffy_) February 27, 2021

“It was not something I gave a huge amount of thought to,” the 22-year-old said at the announcement of the Gaelic Games Player Pathway yesterday.

“I said I would bring it up in the interview but I definitely didn’t expect the reaction it’s gotten so far. I’m overwhelmed by it but I also think it has been really encouraging in the fact that a lot of younger girls have reached out to me.

“I didn’t realise it was such a problem but the fact that these people have reached out to me with similar stories, having that extra conversation on the topic is definitely not a bad thing.

“I had contact from some parents thanking me and it kind of shocked me how young it is, players who are U12, U14, and it is not something at that age I would have been conscious of. I think it is definitely trickling down into younger ages and a little more conversation and awareness about the topic is a good thing.”

Sledging on the pitch has emerged as a problem in sport over the past few years, but most players would brush it off in the moment.

Is it better to address it head-on and call out this unacceptable behaviour? Wall isn’t quite sure.

“It is a catch 22: do you ignore them and let it fizzle out or do you tackle it head on, and I think it is trying to find that happy medium of how you approach it.”

Source: Sport TG4/YouTube

Likewise, she’s unsure if anything more could — or should — be done going forward, rather than keep the conversation going, and the issue in the spotlight.

“It’s kind of a tough one. I hadn’t really thought of strategically how you’d kind of tackle it. It is tough and I think stuff gets said at matches, no one’s perfect when you’re under pressure, or when you’re in a high-pressure situation like that and you want your team to win. I understand that stuff gets said, so I don’t know.

“I don’t think I have a perfect answer, but I do just think more talking about it and more acknowledgment that it’s not okay, maybe, is the way forward. The fact that maybe more people are coming out and talking about it — it’s definitely not just in the female side of things, I know it’s relevant to the male game as well.

“Maybe just a bit more [conversation] about a body image as a whole to do with GAA and stuff like that, I’ve seen a few more articles this week. I think maybe the starting point is just the awareness side of things.”

Wall is just thankful that she stuck at football, well aware that her career could have taken a completely different direction had she let the verbal abuse take over.

“I reflect on it and think if I did not have such a love for the game and if I didn’t have that underlying confidence in myself, I do think it could have gone a different way. It probably did affect me more than I would have liked to admit at the time. I definitely think that the strong love I had for the game helped me but I do think it did affect me as well.”

2020 was a memorable one for Wall and for Meath, as the Royals made it third time lucky, finally getting their hands on the Mary Quinn Memorial Cup after back-to-back decider defeats.

She stepped up with 1-3 in a Player of the Match-winning performancecto inspire her side against Westmeath, banishing the heartbreak of previous finals and defeats — one particular 40-point hammering at the hands of Cork in 2015 standing out.

But Wall — who “definitely wouldn’t rule out” pursuing an AFLW journey having impressed at a Combine in Melbourne in 2019 — is pleased with the “huge improvements” Meath have made of late, and feels they are ready for senior football.

“In 2018 when we were playing against Tyrone, if we’d gone up senior, I probably would have questioned how we would have survived,” she concedes.

Facing Westmeath in the All-Ireland final.

Source: Ryan Byrne/INPHO

“But we’ve got a few more years’ experience under our belts, and I’d be more confident in the fact that we can compete up with senior and could probably hold our own. We don’t want to be coming up to go straight back down so I think definitely, we’re a lot more confident this year.

“We are not naïve in not thinking we have big challenges ahead of us this year and if the provincials go ahead, it means we will be in a straight final against Dublin so you could be playing the All-Ireland champions in your first match. We know we have to increase physicality and strength so in that sense, preparations will be a bit different.”

And playing Mick Bohan’s four-in-a-row winning Sky Blues is certainly a challenge she is relishing.

“Definitely,” Wall, who is happy to report that her sister, Sarah, is on “the road to recovery” after her second cruciate rupture in December’s All-Ireland final, concludes.

“You want to be playing against the best and that has been our goal since we got relegated to intermediate a couple of years ago so we are happy to be back up playing the best.”

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THE 2021 AFL season kicks off this morning at 8.25am Irish time and unlike last season’s opening round of fixtures, there will be crowds present this time around.

Fans will return to AFL grounds in Victoria for the first time in almost 12 months, with a 50% capacity set to be permitted at Melbourne’s MCG and Marvel Stadium.

There are currently 14 Irish players in Aussie Rules, with Ross McQuillan and Conor Glass the most recent converts to return home. 

The Irish players feature across nine clubs, five of them based in Melbourne, two in Sydney and two in Queensland. We’ll run through each of these teams and the Irish players involved.

1. Geelong Cats

The most experienced Irishman in the AFL, Zach Tuohy.

Source: AAP/PA Images

By far the strongest AFL side containing Irish players, Geelong went all the way to last year’s Grand final only to fall to Richmond 81-50. Zach Tuohy (Laois) and Mark O’Connor (Kerry) both played big roles in Geelong’s run to last year’s decider. 

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Tuohy, by far the most experienced Irishman in the AFL with 205 appearances to his name, has yet to win a premiership medal. At 31 he still has time, but this may be the Laois man’s best shot at landing the big prize.

O’Connor is firmly established in the Cats side having appeared in 44 of 51 possible games in the past two seasons.

Stefan Okunbar (Kerry), 22, suffered a ruptured Achilles that sidelined him for most of last year. He has yet to make his AFL debut but will be hoping to put his injury problems behind him and make the step up in 2021.

2. Essendon Bombers

Cian McBride during a 2020 pre-season game for Essendon.

Source: AAP/PA Images

Essendon are down to one Irishman after Conor McKenna and Ross McQuillan returned to Tyrone and Armagh respectively in 2020.

Last season was Cian McBride’s first in Australia and the former Meath U20 midfielder spent the year lining out in scratch matches for the Bombers. Essendon are hoping to employ McBride as defender and it may be 2022 before he makes his AFL bow. 

3. Sydney Swans

Having helped Tipperary to a fairlytale Munster title during the off-season, Colin O’Riordan flew back to Sydney determined to earn a new contract as he enters the final year of his current deal.

The JK Bracken’s clubman battled injury during his early days in Australia. He made three AFL appearances in 2018, 12 in 2019 but just eight in a Covid-disrupted 2020 season.

Wexford native Barry O’Connor was added to Sydney’s senior list during last season, which indicates his AFL bow may not be far away.

A son of All-Ireland hurling winner George, the 22-year-old is under the watchful eye of assistant coach Tadhg Kennelly.

 4. Hawthorn

With Conor Glass having returned home to the Derry ranks, it is left to Meath’s Conor Nash to fly the Irish flag for Hawthorn.

The Simonstown Gaels club man only made two appearances last year to add to his career total of 21 for a Hawthorn club that finished 15th last year.

Hawthorn’s Conor Nash

Source: AAP/PA Images

5. Collingwood

Derry’s Anton Tohill and Cork’s Mark Keane are both in the Collingwood ranks. Tohill, who committed to a new contract extension last December, has yet to make the jump to the senior grade after making progress with the VFL reserve team.

Keane did make the senior breakthrough last year with his debut in August in Fremantle. His big 2020 sporting moment was the last-gasp goal for Cork that dumped Kerry out in the Munster semi-final but did suffer an injury setback in AFL pre-season when damaging his finger.

Collingwood lost out to Geelong at the semi-final stage of the 2020 AFL finals series.

Cork footballer Mark Keane.

Source: Laszlo Geczo/INPHO

6. Gold Coast Suns 

Sligo native Luke Towey is the Irish representative for a club that finished 14th last year. The 21-year-old newcomer signed in October 2019 and is still in the early stages of his Australian Rules career.

7. Brisbane Lions 

There are two Irish players involved here with Brisbane Lions, who lost out to Geelong at the preliminary final stage in 2020. Dublin’s James Madden signed for them in August 2018, he was back in Gaelic football action briefly last year as his club Ballyboden St-Enda’s contested the All-Ireland semi-final. He is still chasing his AFL debut.

He is joined by a new recruit in Deividas Uosis, the player born in Lithuania who starred for the Kerry underage teams and his club Dingle.

Deividas Uosis in action for Kerry against Galway in last year’s All-Ireland U20 semi-final.

Source: Bryan Keane/INPHO

8. Greater Western Sydney Giants

Derry’s Callum Brown is the Irish representative for GWS Giants, who missed out on the finals series last year by finishing in 10th place. The Limavady man signed a new one-year contract in 2020 with the club and after a promising underage Gaelic football career in the Derry colours, will hope to kick on with a first-team showing in 2021 after making 19 appearances so far for the club’s reserve team where he has chalked up seven goals.

9. St Kilda

2014 All-Ireland minor hurling winning captain Darragh Joyce lines out for St Kilda, who reached the semi-finals in the 2020 final series but were soundly defeated by Richmond. The Rower-Inistioge club man has made five AFL appearances for a club he joined back in 2016 but injuries have hampered his development in recent times.

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WATERFORD GAA HAS demanded that the GAA perform a U-turn on its recent move regarding the loss of wages benefit on the player injury scheme. 

It was recently confirmed that loss of wages would not be covered by the GAA’s player injury fund in 2021.

The fund has been in existence since 1929 and provides benefit cover against serious injuries. But after recent loss and hefty deficits amidst the Covid-19 pandemic, clubs were informed of the decision to “temporarily pause” the loss of wages cover.

The GAA’s finance director Ger Mulryan said that this move will save the fund approximately €1.3m per year in his annual report released last month, adding: “It is hoped that this benefit can and will be restored when future funding permits.” 

Cork GAA clubs made their voices heard in an article with The Irish Examiner earlier this month while other club chiefs around the country have predicted a player exodus, and this morning, Waterford became the first county to publicly call for the U-turn.

In a statement, Waterford GAA noted that a “resolution” should be reached before the return to play. 

It’s understood that self-employed club players are wary of returning with this risk involved.

Waterford GAA Statement

Follow the link below ⬇️https://t.co/yqXYCninL3 pic.twitter.com/yS3ER8rhjW

— Waterford GAA (@WaterfordGAA) March 18, 2021

The statement, in full, reads: “Following an online meeting of the Management Committee held on 16th March 2021, Waterford GAA would like to clarify its position regarding the Loss of Wages Benefit on the Player Injury Scheme.

“Subsequent to a discussion on the matter taking place at 2020 Convention, Waterford County Board contacted Croke Park on 18th December. The response received from the Financial Director was circulated to the clubs later that afternoon. Waterford GAA, Central Council Delegate Brendan Tobin also queried the decision at the Central Council meeting on December 18th.

“The matter was further discussed at several meetings of the Management Committee in early 2021 and the County Board have forwarded and supported the concerns of clubs with further correspondence to Croke Park on March 12th.

“The Management Committee have this week written to Croke Park requesting that the item be included on the agenda for the Central Council meeting on March 20th seeking the full restoration of the Loss of Wages Benefit on the Player Injury Scheme.

“CLG Phort Láirge appreciate that the GAA finances at national level are in a challenging position but are hopeful that a resolution on this matter can be found prior to the resumption of any playing activity.”

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AFTER ANOTHER STELLAR season, Paddy Durcan’s 2020 concluded in less than ideal circumstances.

The Mayo wing-back’s All-Ireland final lasted just 35 minutes. When his team-mates jogged out onto the Croke Park turf from the dressing rooms for the start of the second-half, Durcan wasn’t among them.

A quad injury sustained in the early stages of the game forced him off in one of the biggest games of his career. So Durcan watched from the stands as Dublin turned the screw on Mayo in the final quarter and sealed their sixth Sam Maguire in succession.

“About three and a half minutes in I had a bit of a pull on my quad and then there was limited running with that and then right just before the water break I had a serious pull on it then,” recalls Durcan.

“It was just on a change of direction. I wasn’t running at top speed or anything like that and then the second incident, just before the water break, I was in my full stride then.

“That was a real pull and it really restricted me. You are certainly aware of it but you try and manage it and I tried to manage it as best I could for the last bit of the first half to just get by and not be found out too much.

“But it certainly limited me and there is no point in saying any different. I was not at near full capacity.

“I ran straight over to the doctor at the water break and said it to him because the second incident happened just 30 seconds before the water break. I said, “Look, I am in serious bother here”. He asked would I be able to make it to half-time and I said I would try my best.

“I wasn’t right, I tried to play on until half-time but I was very limited and it was the right call to come off at half-time. It was unfortunate but it is what it is.

“The decision was made at half-time then and James changed things up. It was the right decision, there is no doubt about that. It was what it was, it was disappointing initially but there is no point being too down-beat about it.

“You move on fairly quick because there is no point in getting two downbeat about it. At the time you are disappointed but we have tried to move on from it anyway.

“I am positive and optimistic and hopefully I will be able to move on from it this season and show what I am able to do and what we can do as a team.”

It’s an injury that would have ruled the Castlebar Mitchels man out for a decent chunk of the Allianz Football League had it started as scheduled earlier this year.

He’s been busy getting scans and consulting with physios as part of a lengthy rehabilitation process he describes as “monotonous”. But Durcan has resumed light running recently and is looking “to getting back in the next few weeks whenever we get the green light.”

Durcan’s absence against Dublin was significant. Man-marking Ciaran Kilkenny, he greatly restricted the Castleknock man’s influence in the first period. But after half-time, Kilkenny enjoyed far more freedom and picked off a few nice scores.

“I did okay I suppose during the time I was on him,” he reflects. “I don’t think necessarily it was my brilliant defending or anything like that. I thought we played the better football in the first-half as a team.

“There wasn’t that much ball coming into him. As I said, I wasn’t moving at full output so I don’t think it was definitely my brilliantly defending by any means or anything like that.

“I thought we did a lot of things right in the first-half, as a team, bar getting killed for a couple of goals. But we played a lot of good football. I thought maybe as a forward unit they probably didn’t get a massive chance to showcase what they could do for that half, as I said, more so than my defending.

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“It is difficult when you’re watching on,” he says of the second-half. “I’ve lucky enough, it’s not something I’ve had to do too much. It definitely was strange.

“You’re trying to help the lads at half-time to encourage them and to say that there’s a right chance for us to finish off the game. I was able to move on from it fairly quick but obviously I’d be lying if I said there wasn’t a tinge of disappointment that I wasn’t able to play in the second-half.”

Despite regaining the Connacht crown and pushing the Dubs hard for three quarters of the All-Ireland final, Mayo were awarded just two All-Stars last month.

Although Durcan was arguably the most unlucky to miss out, the 2019 award winner has few complaints.

“Look, I won one last year and it was the first one for the club so it was a massive couple of nights between celebrating that in the clubhouse and stuff. So I certainly wouldn’t belittle it in any capacity. It was great to win.  

“I knew I was definitely in contention to win one this year and it would be close, but obviously I didn’t get picked or whatever. But I wouldn’t have massive complaints for it either to be honest with you.

“Would have loved to have won it, know it was close. To be honest it’s very subjective anyway. I think no matter what team you pick, you’re going to have some people saying it’s a disgrace X or Y didn’t make it.

“It’s open to interpretation and like I said I wouldn’t have massive complaints over it. I know it probably was close but I wouldn’t feel overly hard done by in any sense.”

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DUBLIN’S SINÉAD GOLDRICK, Niamh McEvoy and Lauren Magee are heading for the AFLW finals with Melbourne after they edged a Round 8 thriller against Fremantle on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Mayo sisters Niamh and Grace Kelly were both key players for the West Coast Eagles as they lost out to Richmond.

Grace chipped in with a goal along with 10 kicks and 10 disposals while Niamh finished with 16 kicks and 13 disposals. Their combined efforts were not enough however, as their side suffered a 5.12 (42) to 5.4 (34) with one round of the regular season remaining.

Tipperary’s Aisling McCarthy also lined out for the Eagles, who are in 11th place on the AFL Ladder, but was withdrawn in the first few minutes with a knee injury.

There was also Irish involvement in the clash between Fremantle and Melbourne with Dublin trio Goldrick, Magee and McEvoy all featuring in a 5.7 (37) to 4.8 (32) win to send them through to the AFLW finals.

WE HOLD ON!!! 🤩#FiredUp | #AFLWFreoDees pic.twitter.com/Z8NjHeZ2jr

— Melbourne AFLW (@MelbourneAFLW) March 21, 2021

The Demons, who led by four goals at half-time, held off a second-half comeback from Fremantle to progress to the finals.

Magee was named on the interchange while Goldrick started the tie where she picked up a hamstring injury. McEvoy was listed as an emergency player.

There was one other Round 8 game down for decision in the AFLW on Sunday. The Adelaide Crows also secured a spot in the finals with a 56-point win against the Western Bulldogs.

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FORMER CLARE HURLER and manager Ger Loughnane is calling for Clare fans to help at a time of crisis.

Loughnane is calling on supporters to join Club Clare to financially assist the county’s hurling teams. 

“We are in disarray, so much so that the gap between us and our main competitors is widening at a frightening rate,” the 1995 and 1997 All-Ireland winning boss wrote in an open letter on the supporters club website.

“The big worry now is that this gap will develop into a chasm through which we will topple into hurling irrelevance.” 

Loughnane’s letter has been published alongside a new Club Clare promotional video featuring key hurling and camogie figures from around the county, as the supporters’ club launches its 2021 membership package.

Club Clare was established in 2017 to support the county’s hurling teams but from 2021 onwards it is including all Clare camogie panels as part of the membership offering.

Source: Club Clare/YouTube

The letter, in full, reads:

“The first half of the last decade brought us so many hurling highlights at underage and senior level that it’s difficult to put a hierarchy of satisfaction to these. My own highlight was the Under 21 All-Ireland Final in Thurles in 2013, a game that was sandwiched between the two epic senior finals in Croke Park in that never to be forgotten September.

“What made that victory so special was towards the end of the game, Clare youngsters of various ages, girls and boys, seemed to emerge from nowhere and begin lining the perimeter of the field, hurleys in hand, waiting for the game to end. There seemed to be thousands of them there and just as the final whistle sounded, they resembled a stream of locusts as they stormed onto the pitch, blotting out the Thurles turf.

“Looking on from the stand, I can still recall the joy I felt and the confidence I had that the future of Clare Hurling was secure. Two weeks later that future looked to be copper fastened when our young team brilliantly captured the MacCarthy Cup. That September we were the envy of every other hurling county in the land.

“Now, less than eight years later, we are in disarray, so much so that the gap between us and our main competitors is widening at a frightening rate. The big worry now is that this gap will develop into a chasm through which we will topple into hurling irrelevance.”

Loughnane is aware of ‘people’s suspicion of supporters clubs’ but insisted this group ‘has both structure and governance’.

I fully understand people’s suspicion of supporters clubs due to recent revelations but Club Clare is completely different. Club Clare has both structure and governance. Most importantly, it is comprised of quality people who are completely genuine in their concern for the future of the games in Clare. Uniquely, it contains two outstanding women and is committed to the development of hurling and camogie, which is the way that all GAA activities of the future should be.

“I urge you to give Club Clare a chance, give it one year of your support and I am certain that your confidence will be restored.

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“It is in time of crisis that we are all most tested and the fact that, in these trying times, such quality people have put their heads above the parapet and are prepared to give the much-needed leadership, gives me hope once again for the future. But they need the help of all of us. I urge you to give them that help.

“Join Club Clare, even if it is just for one year. I have already done so. Through all our efforts, we will secure the future of hurling and camogie in Clare and we will again have glorious days when the Banner will be flying high, as it did in those unforgettable days in the past.”

Newmarket-on-Fergus clubman Pat Keogh is chairperson of Club Clare, with several other big names including county manager Brian Lohan involved on the committee.

STAR PLAYERS FROM Tipperary, Cork and All-Ireland SHC champions Limerick are among those who have been honoured in the 2020 Munster GAA awards.

Limerick’s Cian Lynch caps off an impressive season with John Kiely’s Liam MacCarthy winners by picking up the Senior Hurler of the Year award while Tipperary’s Conor Sweeney accepts the Footballer of the Year gong.

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Both players were awarded All-Stars in 2020, with Sweeney playing a key role in helping the Premier County end an 85-year-wait for a Munster senior title.

Tipp boss David Power has been selected as the manager of the year for his role in that impressive feat.

Fellow All-Star recipient Mary Ryan of Tipperary is the Senior Camogie Player of the Year for 2020, while Cork goalkeeper Martina O’Brien has been crowned the Senior Ladies Footballer of the Year.

Due to the current restrictions, there will be no Awards night and the winners will receive
their awards from officers of the Munster Council when it is safe to do so.

2020 Munster GAA Award winners

Senior Hurler of the Year: Cian Lynch (Limerick)
Senior Footballer of the Year: Conor Sweeney (Tipperary)
Manager of the Year: David Power (Tipperary)
Camogie Player of the Year: Mary Ryan (Tipperary)
Ladies Footballer of the Year: Martina O’Brien (Cork)
Handballer of the Year: Martina McMahon (Limerick)
Under 20 Hurler of the Year: Shane Barrett (Cork)
Under 20 Footballer of the Year: Killian Falvey (Kerry)
Minor Hurler of the Year: Adam English (Limerick)
Minor Footballer of the Year: Cian McMahon (Kerry)

FOUR-TIME ALL-Ireland winner Sean O’Sullivan has been ratified as manager of the South Kerry division for the 2021 Kerry county SFC.

The Cromane clubman replaces John Shanahan as manager of a side that reached the final in 2017 and were last crowned winners in 2015. They lost out to St Kieran’s in the 2020 quarter-finals.

It’s the first move into management for O’Sullivan, who has been involved in various coaching roles in recent years including with his native Cromane.

His selectors will be Ronan Hussey (Sneem) and Denis (Shine) O’Sullivan (Dromid Pearses) while Alan Duggan will serve as strength and conditioning coach.

Looking forward to getting to work with @SouthKerryBoard senior team. A district board with a great history and tradition. https://t.co/eeRAiiIJFg

— Sean O Sullivan (@SeanTheBawn) March 23, 2021

O’Sullivan will also be part of Declan O’Sullivan’s backroom team with the Kerry U20s for the coming season.

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He won Celtic Crosses with the Kingdom in 2004, 2006, 2007 and 2009.  

Meanwhile, former Kerry manager Eamonn Fitzmaurice will chair a special committee tasked with undertaking a comprehensive review of football in north Kerry. 

The standard of player emerging from the area is of concern to the Kerry county board, with local divisional sides Feale Rangers and Shannon Rangers failing to reach the latter stages of county championship in the past decade.

According to Kerry chairman Tim Murphy, the committee will make recommendations on areas such as current structures at senior and underage grades, coaching and games, primary and post primary schools, development squads, competitions and fixtures.

ALL-IRELAND HURLING champions Limerick have unveiled their new county jersey ahead of the 2021 season.

The O’Neill’s strip, which was launched on Wednesday morning, features the names of 65 Limerick clubs across the front and back. 

Adult jerseys start at €70 while the children’s version costs €35.

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NEIL MCMANUS HAS opened up about how a defibrillator from the Cushendall GAA field helped save his father’s life after he suffered a heart attack in 2015.

Neil McManus is an ambassador for the GAA Community Heart Programme.

Source: David Fitzgerald/SPORTSFILE

Speaking at the launch of the GAA’s Community Heart Programme, an initiative around defibrillator awareness, McManus spoke about the frightening incident involving his father Hugh. 

The day before Ruairi Óg Cushendall played Loughgiel Shamrocks in the Antrim SHC semi-final over five years ago, the Antrim star was still living at the family home and preparing for the game with some foam rolling.

That morning his 59-year-old father headed off for his usual Saturday game of golf when he felt a tightness in his chest and returned to the house.

“He went into the other living room in the house that no one is ever in and he lay down on the sofa and we knew that was very strange for him,” recalls Neil. “He has his one seat in the house and if he is not there he is in bed.

“I just rang an ambulance and said I think my father is having a heart attack and I didn’t really know if he was or wasn’t I just wasn’t sure I wasn’t used to him being unwell.”

The Saffron forward phoned 999 and the emergency services contacted first responders nearest to the family home. As it turned out, local man Joe Burns, a crew member of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, was on the receiving end of that call.

Living 500 metres up the road from the McManus family home, he’s almost next door to the GAA pitch where the defibrillator was located.

Within five minutes of picking up the phone, Burns knocked on the door.

“I had no idea he was first responder,” says Neil. “I was pretty unfamiliar with the whole concept to be honest.

“He just arrived to the house and he said, ‘Where’s number 12?’”

Before McManus had a chance to respond, Burns asked, ‘Is your dad alright?’

“He just knew by the look on my face. I just sort of shook my head. He just brushed me aside and came in.”

Neil was instructed to get his beard trimmers as Burns cut his father’s shirt open. 

“We shaved his chest and had the pads on ready to go before he had the heart attack. It was incredible how quickly he got to work.

“Without him that day there is no way my father would still be there. The ambulance was there really quickly, within about three quarters of an hour, we are about an hour from Belfast so they were making good time to get down into the Glens, so we were just incredibly fortunate as a family.

“There was a second responder as well, Hugh McIlwaine, I think he’s chairman of Glenariffe the neighbouring village but he put club rivalries aside that day and came in and helped Joe out.

McManus helped Antrim deliver the McDonagh Cup title in 2020.

Source: James Crombie/INPHO

“Thankfully they brought him around. It was a scary 10 minutes alright. But we brought him around on the second attempt. We were so lucky. How many times have these guys gone to houses to try to revive somebody, and try to save a life, and not been able to?

“I think it was the first call in something like five years that those two men went to and they saved somebody. Usually it’s a different outcome.

“We got very lucky on the day, how Joe was at home whenever the phone call came and he was right beside the hurling field, where our AED (Automated External Defibrillator) is stored on outside wall. He was up at the house within five minutes. Without him, he wouldn’t be here today.

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“It’s massive because to be able to have him there at my own wedding, and to have him there, a couple of years ago we won our club championship, him being involved in that team and stuff. They’re big, big parts of my life as well as his. Without that AED being available that day, he wouldn’t have been here.”

McManus lined out in the county semi-final against Loughgiel the following day. Incredibly, during the game Shamrocks forward Liam Watson’s father took a heart attack and a defibrillator from the grounds at Dunloy was used to revive him.

“The match was abandoned, obviously, because of what happened to Liam Watson’s father,” says McManus.

“But we met at the hospital that night because his father when he came into the hospital was rolled into the bed next to my father, so there was great craic that evening.”

Antrim star McManus.

Source: Morgan Treacy/INPHO

According to the GAA, a recent survey found that 42 lives across Ireland have been saved  by AEDs located in GAA facilities being used on members.

McManus stressed the importance of clubs checking the status of their defibrillators and upgrading them if required. 

His father is in now good health and both McManus’s parents (both aged 65) will get the second jab of the Covid-19 vaccine in a couple of weeks. He can sense some optimism that life will return to normal, such is the pace of the vaccine roll-out in the north.

“There’s a bit of a confidence emerging there. People are starting to move outside their group a little bit more and the numbers are still decreasing, which is very important. If the plans come to fruition that we heard coming out of Stormont last week, the vaccine ramp-up is going to increase.

“I think everyone over 50 has been called to book a vaccination slot. After that, we’re really gonna move at pace through the younger members of the community. It’s absolutely great to see that kind of progress, to be honest. 

“It’s such a shame that we haven’t done it on an all-island basis. There’s been a big mood change. Everyone is worried about the vulnerable, the people who are that little bit older. So many of those people have had at least their first vaccine.

“So there is definitely a bit of a spring in the step up here now that wasn’t there probably about two months ago. And there is a confidence there that our most vulnerable are vaccinated. That we have protected the people who need the protection most.”

Commenting on the news that club GAA activity is set to resume in Northern Ireland from 12 April, he said: 

“And the WhatsApp has been bouncing since that came out yesterday, that it looks like we are going to get the go-ahead, and we couldn’t be looking forward to it any more, to be honest.

“Whenever you are just talking to some of the other lads, you start to get a wee bit excited. There are no two ways about it. Especially at this stage of my career, every year is a prisoner, I cannot wait to be back on a field.”

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The GAA’s Community Heart Programme encourages every club in the country to A.C.T. now and ensure that their club can also be prepared in case of an emergency and that they can avail of a defibrillator that is Accessible, Charged and that there are enough Trained rescuers within your club who have the ability to operate the device.

The initiative allows GAA Clubs to fundraise for life-saving AEDs via a fundraising platform. Clubs can avail of a €995 reduction of saving per unit if they register and secure their AED via the Community Heart Programme. Once the fundraising target of €2,150 per unit has been reached, the AED units will also be delivered directly to the clubs.