72 SPORT CYCLING The Irish Mail on Sunday May 12, 2019

she can recognise the aspects of INTERVIEW her tale that attract people. ROLLOrla Walsh was unfulfilledMODEL by the excess ‘That’s something I’m still strug- gling with, in terms of embracing By Shane McGrath that I’m a role model,’ she says. chief sports writer of her partying lifestyle, so she took up ‘I don’t know if it’s an Irish men- tality, that I feel you need to kind of play down your achievements, and ERS is a story that could say, “Ah sure, anyone could do it. never get old. And Orla cycling and now inspires others on social You could do it, don’t look up to Walsh understands that. me”. It’s why she continues to ‘The story, in its simplicity, keep tell it and why she uses media while harbouring Olympic dreams it to “Orla stopped smoking and social media to inspire drinking and started cycling”: that others. It’s not as easy as implying in itself I think people can look at Hthat anyone could do what she has that seems just as important in her and find inspiration from it. done. story. ‘It makes the story more interest- They couldn’t. Saddle UP: That desire to compete is com- ing then that I didn’t just stop at a Walsh is now an elite athlete, a Orla Walsh is mon to all successful sports peo- healthy lifestyle, that I wanted to member of Cycling Ireland’s team driven by the ple. pursuit selection that came tenth at need to Without it, even the most lavish the World Championships in Poland compete talent goes unfulfilled. ‘I Don’t see at the end of February. ‘It’s obsession,’ she grins. ‘There It’s only four years since sport is a pinch of talent and a lot of any of the played no part in her life at all, obsession. It is something I obvi- when her weekends were devoted ously had in me that was com- People I used to nights out and a packet of ciga- pletely untapped, and muted by rettes was important to her in the everything else I was doing to my to Party with way cycling technology is now. body with drinking, smoking and Not many people could transform going out late.’ any more’ their lives as dramatically, as thor- Her progress accelerated when oughly, as Walsh has done. she took part in what Cycling Ire- see how far I could go in the sport Change of some sort is an ambi- land called a talent transfer pro- as well. tion that everyone holds, however. gramme. ‘But I wouldn’t necessarily And in the life of Orla Walsh, many It sought ‘talented female athletes say that being a serious com- find inspiration. who have experience of training petitor or wanting to be the ‘That’s a reason why I keep bring- and competing at national or high best you can be on the bike is ing it up on my social media, and do level in their sport to join us on our something that everyone the Transformation Tuesday mission to the 2020 Olympics’. needs to aspire to, because it’s things,’ she says, explaining the Her experience was severely lim- not for everyone.’ Instagram post she shares every ited, but Walsh had talent and ambi- She was part of a Cycling Ireland week, comparing her old life to the tion and she made it through the team that departed for a training one she is living today. programme, all the way to Poland camp in Majorca this week, with a ‘I get messages from people say- in March, when she and three team- spell of altitude training to follow. ing, “I can really relate to your mates competed in the final of the Selection for the team that will background and it’s inspiring that women’s team pursuit. compete in the European Games in you made the decision to change Getting to the Olympics will be a Minsk next month is the immediate your life”. much tougher job, and their priority, before a series of World chances seem quite slim. Cup events, all influencing Olym- But achieving in spite of conven- pic qualification, get started later ‘There is a tion is a challenge one team mem- in the year. ber certainly understands. Her life is now a blur of training part of me ‘ I ’ d say it took me a year to and rest, with time for inspiration stop having that to be found, too. that just Imposter Syndrome Her old life and her new one don’t feeling,’ says Walsh. mingle much these days. wants to be an ‘A part of it was ‘The sad truth is that a lot of the that I came in people I hung out with in the party Athlete’ through the talent days, I don’t see any more,’ she transfer programme. explains. ‘I do have close friends ‘I post those things even though They tested me, and I’ve grown up with, and I’m still I’m tired of the story for other peo- logically I thought, friends with them. ple, more than myself. Before and After: Orla Walsh “I’ve passed the tests ‘They’ve seen the progress. And ‘But there is a part of me that uses social media to post pictures so I deserve to be they’re not surprised because they wishes I could just now be, Orla of her contrasting lifestyles here”. know me so well. This is what I’m Walsh the athlete, rather than Orla ‘But then the illogi- like, all or nothing.’ Walsh, the one who used to be a time is, is there an “A-ha moment”,’ cal side of my brain It is why so many seek her out on s***-show and now she’s an ath- she says of her story. said, “They must Instagram, and why she continues lete. ‘And there isn’t. I was still proba- have made a mis- to share her staggering, inspiring ‘In saying that, it’s a part of my bly going out at the weekend, and I take. The machine story. story. People like it.’ remember going on college trips must have been bro- In one of her Transformation It is a remarkable tale. where we were drinking for the ken. You didn’t do that”. Tuesdays, she compared a photo of Walsh is from Castleknock in west entire weekend. I couldn’t do it to the point where I started drop- ‘I’d be around these new athletes her from her time as an enthusias- , and she turned 30 this now! ping him. but they had an established back- tic socialiser. In one hand she held week. ‘But the more I cycled my bike, ‘You know the way people say ath- ground in sport. a cigarette, in the other a bottle of She was at the Institute of Sport the more I realised, “I’m really letes might have pushy parents? ‘I was comparing myself to peo- whiskey. recently as part of a presentation enjoying this”. My parents aren’t like that at all, ple who knew what it was like to And beside it, there was a photo of explaining how high performance ‘My dad Pat was a big factor in they’re very supportive of what- compete, and I didn’t, so that was Walsh on a podium, holding a tro- systems work, and used Cycling the whole thing. He gave me the ever I decide to do. something that made me feel I was phy and looking deeply happy. Ireland as an example. first bike, and he escorted me in ‘But he was really encouraging out of my depth. The journey isn’t done yet, Four years ago, she was studying and out of work, mostly because, with the bike. He could see I was ‘I really, really have enjoyed the either. for a Master’s in the Aungier Street and it’s a horrible thing to say, but enjoying it, and he always said he challenges of the last two years. ‘I’m always on to the next thing. I campus of Dublin Institute of Tech- town is just not safe to cycle in. could see I had potential to get bet- I’ve been pushed out of my comfort call it relentless dissatisfaction: nology. And she decided a cheap ‘I remember, on the way back into ter at it. zone more times than ever in my anything you do achieve, the satis- way of commuting between home the Phoenix Park, there’s a drag up ‘He was able to annoy me enough life. faction from it is so short-lived, and and the college in the city centre, to the first roundabout and he to get better by dropping me on ‘It makes me feel like I’m really I think a lot of athletes feel the was by bicycle. would go full gas. that hill.’ doing something.’ same way. Her father gave her a second- ‘He would drop me, and that Walsh joined a cycling club, That resonates with others, hence ‘In a way it’s sad, but it’s what hand one, and so began one of the annoyed me no end. He would do Orwell Wheelers, and when she the support that has gathered makes you keep wanting to get bet- unlikeliest stories in Irish high per- that regularly, and I would be able started competing in races, her tal- behind her on social media. ter. “Okay, I’ve done that, what’s formance sport. to hang on a bit more each time. ent began to emerge. Long before If she has reservations about next?” ‘The question I get asked all the ‘It drove me to want to be better, then, so did a relish for competition being celebrated as a role model, ‘That is me in a nutshell.’ May 12, 2019 The Irish Mail on Sunday tennis SPORT 73 New hope for Murray Bryan surgery gives Scot optimism ‘During Madrid last year my right EXCLUSIVE hip was rapidly deteriorating with each match,’ says Bryan. ‘Unbe- From Mike Dickson known to me I had worn away all in MADRID my cartilage and I was hearing crunching sounds. On a serve in the first set, I chipped the hip socket S Andy Murray quietly and the pain was so excruciating I practised away at Wim- could no longer continue.’ bledon this week the Having had the surgery, he was player he views as an back hitting balls by late autumn, inspiration was marking and in December began practising a significant anniver- at close to full tilt. In January he sary. and Mike made the Australian AIt was this weekend a year ago at Open quarter-finals. the Madrid Open that American ‘It’s been almost nine months doubles legend Bob Bryan, three since my hip resurfacing surgery times Wimbledon champion, and I’m blown away by how my decided he could no longer go new joint feels. I feel like I’m easing back in: Double through the agonising pain his hip almost at 100 per cent but I still Wimbledon winner Andy Murray was causing him. spend 30 minutes a day doing hip Having to retire midway through stretches and exercises to make moving within a radius of just a the first set of the 2018 Madrid sure I stay balanced with my left yard or two so as not to aggravate final was the tipping point. After side.’ his healing joint. exploring various options last He and Murray continue to be in Although an announcement was August he underwent hip surgery regular touch. It was after the made last week by the Fever Tree — and he now regards it as one of Scot’s famously tearful press con- Championships at Queen’s that a the best decisions he ever made. ference in Australia, and that wild card is being held for him at A year on he is back playing suc- remarkable first-round epic against the pre-Wimbledon tournament — cessfully, and it was his example Roberto Bautista Agut, that Mur- with whom he has a lifetime that Murray followed in January ray finally decided to have the appearance arrangement — there by having the same procedure, same operation. is almost zero likelihood of him involving a metal cap being ‘I’ve been in contact with Andy being seen on grass this summer. inserted on the troublesome joint. following his procedure,’ says He has learned the lesson of pre- As he approaches his 32nd birth- Bryan. ‘He’s had a few questions vious attempted returns and will day this coming week, those close about how he was feeling and I not rush back. If he is seen again to the Scot are increasingly hopeful assured him that it was all normal. this season it is expected to be later that the operation will similarly I hope that Andy can return to pro- in the year, and quite possibly on allow a return to the tour, even fessional tennis again, but most the doubles court initially. While though a comeback at this sum- importantly, I’m happy he’s pain nobody has yet come back from his mer’s Wimbledon seems out of the free. Anything beyond that is a position to play competitive sin- question. huge bonus.’ gles, the fact is that not even the While doubles clearly involves So good has Murray been feeling man himself can be sure of what much less in the way of punishing that in the past week he has played the eventual outcome will be. running than singles, it is worth both golf and tennis in London. If he wants encouragement then noting that Bryan is 41. The fact His tennis practices have been he might look at the stat that five of that he has won two doubles titles held in private on outside courts at the singles quarter-finalists in already this season with twin the All England Club and, accord- Madrid this week were in their 30s brother Mike, including the pres- ing to informed sources, have — and he can also look at 40some- tigious Miami Open, is extremely involved hitting sessions strictly thing Bob Bryan, in action again heartening for Murray. limited to half an hour at a time, this coming week in Rome. sport in brief Basketball MHC Tier 3 Rnd 3: (Swords) Carlow 6-20 Down 0-5. Ladies football NBA — Western Conference Play-Off Semi-final: Houston 113 Golf MUNSTER SFC: () Waterford 1-12 Kerry 2-4. Golden State 118 (Golden State win series 4-2). British Masters (Hillside GC, Southport) Third round (Gbr & Irl unless stated, par 72) - 202 M Kinhult (Swe) 65 69 68, Motorcycling Cricket M Wallace 65 67 70; 204 - R Ramsay 66 67 71; 205 - T Fleetwood World Superbikes ITALIAN GP (Imola) — Race 1: 1 J Rea (GB) ODI (Malahide): West Indies 331/5 (S Ambris 148, B Rankin 68 69 68, R Macintyre 68 69 68; 206 - T Detry (Bel) 66 67 73; Kawasaki 33mins 48.277secs, 2 A Bautista (Spa) Ducati 33:56.109, 3-65) beat IRELAND 327/5 (A Balbirnie 125, P Stirling 77, S Gabriel 207 - E Pepperell 70 67 70; 208 - V Dubuisson (Fra) 69 67 72, R Fisher 3 T Razgatlioglu (Tur) Kawasaki 34:07.568, 4 M van der Mark 2-47) by 5 wickets. 68 65 75, M Jordan 63 72 73, N Lemke (Swe) 69 64 75, H Porteous (Hol) Yamaha 34:08.245, 5 L Haslam (GB) Kawasaki 34:08.388, (Rsa) 70 69 69, D Papadatos (Aus) 69 70 69; 209 - H Leon (USA) 6 M Melandri (Ita) Yamaha 34:20.123, 7 A Lowes (GB) Yamaha Cycling 72 68 69, J Luiten (Ned) 70 71 68, O Wilson 71 71 67, R McEvoy 34:20.301, 8 M Rinaldi (Ita) Ducati 34:22.384, 9 L Zanetti (Ita) 75 67 67, G Fernandez-Castano (Spa) 72 68 69, J Smith 68 74 67, Ducati 34:23.091, 10 M Reiterberger (Ger) BMW 34:28.473. Women’s Tour of Chong ming Island (China) — Stage G Green (Mal) 74 67 68, N Elvira (Spa) 70 68 71. 3 (118km): 1 L Wiebes (Hol) Parkhotel Valkenburg 2hrs 52mins 210 - S Kjeldsen (Den) 69 69 72, S Brown 72 68 70, P Waring 72 Motor Racing 1sec, 2 J Maneephan (Tha) Thailand Cycling Team, 5 L Garner (GB) 70 68, D Horsey 72 70 68, L Johnston 71 68 71, S Hend (Aus) 68 69 WRC Rally Chile (Concepcion) – Leaders after Stage 8: 1 O Hitec Products-Birk Sport at same time. Overall: 1 Wiebes (Hol) 73, A Pavan (Ita) 71 71 68, T Hatton 70 70 70, S Crocker (USA) 67 71 8hrs 26mins 14secs, 5 Garner at 37secs. Tanak (Est) Toyota 1hr 52mins 37.8secs, 2 S Ogier (Fra) Citroen 72, L Westwood 66 70 74. 1:53:08.6, 3 J-M Latvala (Fin) Toyota 1:53:25.3, 4 S Loeb (Fra) Gaelic Games 211 - G Bhullar (Ind) 72 68 71, N Colsaerts (Bel) 73 68 70, Hyundai 1:53:29.7, 5 E Evans (Gbr) Ford 1:53:45.3, 10 K Meeke Ashley Chesters 68 69 74, G Bourdy (Fra) 72 69 70, N Bertasio (Gbr) Toyota 1:59:52.5. Leinster SFC Rnd 1: (Netwatch Cuillen Park) Kildare 0-15 (Ita) 73 68 70. Wicklow 1-10. 212 - A Johnston 68 71 73, M Kieffer (Ger) 69 67 76, J Singh Rugby Union Munster SFC: () Limerick 3-11 Tipperary 1-10; Brar 67 71 74, M Kaymer (Ger) 68 71 73, S Manley 71 70 71, Clare 0-9 Waterford 0-8. S Jamieson 69 70 73, R Paratore (Ita) 73 67 72, P Larrazabal (Spa) European Champions Cup Final (St James’s Park, Leinster SHC: (Nowlan Park) 2-23 Dublin 1-21. 71 71 70, J Scrivener (Aus) 72 70 70, B Wiesberger (Aut) 69 72 71, Newcastle) – Saracens 20 Leinster 10. Joe McDonagh Cup Rnd 1: (Dunloy) Antrim 3-19 Kerry 0-14; M Hoey 68 71 73. (O’Connor Park) Laois 4-22 Offaly 3-21. 213 - D Law 71 71 71, D Howell 72 70 71, G Migliozzi (Spa) 70 67 Soccer Cup Rnd 1: (Portaferry) Derry 3-20 Down 2-14. 76, J Van Zyl (Rsa) 70 69 74, G Forrest 73 68 72, F Zanotti (Pry) 73 FAI INtermediate Cup: (Aviva Stadium) Avondale United 1 Cup Rnd 1: () Armagh 2-20 69 71, V Perez (Fra) 71 70 72, C Syme 72 68 73, J Senior 72 69 72, (M O’Sullivan) Crumlin United 0. Monaghan 2-14; (Dowdallshill) Sligo 2-24 Louth 1-19 E Molinari (Ita) 72 70 71. MFC rnd 2: (Carrickmore) Monaghan 3-8 Tyrone 0-13; AT&T Byron Nelson (Dallas, Texas) — 2nd rd leaders (US Tennis (Owenbeg) Derry 0-19 Cavan 1-12. unless stated): 126 – S Kang (Kor) 65 61; 130 – M Every 65 65; ATP & WTA Mutua Madrid Open (Spain) — Men’s Semi- Ulster MFC Rnd 2 qualifiers: (Ballybofey) Donegal 2-18 T Duncan 64 66; 131 – B Koepka 65 66; 132 – R Sabbatini (Svk) final: (1) N Djokovic (Ser) bt (5) D Thiem (Aut) 7-6 (7-2) 7-6 (7-4). Armagh 2-12; (Brewster Park) Down 1-12 Fermanagh 0-11. 67 65. ITF MEN’S FUTURES (Kampala, Uganda) – Singles semi-final: Leinster MHC Tier 1 Rnd 3: (Nowlan Park) Kilkenny 5-29 Offaly 133 – R Diaz (Mex) 66 67; B Hossler 67 66; M Laird (GB) 67 66; (5) S Carr (Irl) bt M-A Senthilkumar (Ind) 6-3 6-1. 1-9; (Bellfield) Wexford 2-17 Dublin 3-14. 134 – M Thompson 66 68. 135 – S Jaeger (Ger) 69 66; M Jones ITF MEN’S FUTURES (Heraklion, Crete, Greece) – Doubles semi- Leinster MHC Tier 2 Rnd 3: (Swords) Laois 6-20 Antrim 1-14; (Aus) 65 70; Z Sucher 67 68; S Munoz (Col) 69 66; D Ghim 69 66; final: (4) M Pervolarakis (Gre)/P Tsitsipas (Gre) bt (2) P Bothwell (TEG Cusack Park) Kildare 1-19 Westmeath 2-10. J Blixt (Swe) 65 70; J Spieth 68 67. (Irl)/H Craig (USA) 6-4 6-2. 76 SPORT the gaa remembers The Irish Mail on Sunday November 11, 2018

EMORY has nourished in particular the IRFU, which urged the GAA and helped it By Shane its membership to sign up. This become the most pow- was, perhaps, an early instance of erful organisations in McGrath the pragmatism and ability to adapt Ireland. Great deeds, that has been a feature of the GAA enduring heroes and, in for over a century. Bloody Sunday, a harrowing brush nating essay on the subject in ‘The ‘In the early 1890s, the GAA was Mwith the cruelties of revolutionary GAA & Revolution in Ireland 1913- almost destroyed,’ says McElligott. times, are celebrated in its history. 1923’, a marvellous collection ‘With the fall from grace of Charles The past is a powerful actor in the edited by Professor Gearóid Ó Stewart Parnell as the leader of the modern theatre of the games, fram- Tuathaigh that was published in Irish Parliamentary Party, the GAA ing the greatness of the Dublin 2015. very much backed Parnell in the footballers and the comeback of Dr Richard McElligott lectures massive split that happened in the Galway hurlers. on Irish History in UCD, and is the nationalist politics at the time. We can suspect it would have been ures available. Memory is treasured – most of author of ‘Forging a Kingdom: The ‘That almost tore the GAA asun- anti-war but officially it didn’t A German bombing raid during the time. The history of any power- GAA in Kerry 1884-1934’. der, and from then on they were really take a side.’ the Blitz on London in the Second ful movement is formed by omis- He wrote the first of the profiles terrified that if they became too There is no accurate figure for World War destroyed the War sions as well as inclusions, though. featured on the GAA website. Its political, if they took too-political a how many GAA members fought in Office records, says McElligott, What goes unsaid, unremem- subject was Charlie Duggan, who stance one way or the other, the World War One. This is due, in part, depriving historians of masses of bered, ignored, is not worthless, played on the first Kerry team to same thing would happen. to the fact that there is no official detail. and in recent days the GAA took a win an All-Ireland, in 1903. He was ‘And you see the same thing again figure for how many Irishmen And the third reason? ‘Most GAA small step in recovering one aspect also a veteran of the Boer War who, with the Civil War. The GAA very fought in the conflict. members, they weren’t high-profile of its past. as a reservist, was mobilised when much clamps down completely on ‘We don’t know how many GAA people when they joined up. Over 11 days, from November 1 war with Germany was declared in being perceived as being pro-Free members joined up, and that’s not ‘When they died, it wouldn’t have to today, Armistice Day, the GAA 1914. Duggan joined the Munster State or anti-Treaty. It’s that experi- surprising because even today we been reported in the newspapers. website has profiled a GAA mem- Fusiliers and was injured at the ence of the 1890s and how the GAA don’t know exactly how many Irish- They were only basic-level soldiers, ber who fought in World War One. Battle of Mons. came perilously close to actually men in total did. We think it’s a lot of them.’ The number 11 is significant, as There was no official GAA policy collapsing and ceasing to exist. around 210,000 but we’re not sure. Donal McAnallen’s research into schoolchildren have learned for regarding its members joining the ‘We know the GAA is a nationalist And we certainly don’t know how the numbers of GAA members that decades. It was at the eleventh British Army, says Dr McElligott, body and there were a lot of radical many Irishmen died in the war. It’s fought in the war has turned up hour, of the eleventh day, of the in contrast to other sporting bodies, nationalists in the higher echelons. anywhere between 25,000 and dozens of names in Ulster alone, eleventh month that an armistice 49,000. and it is supposed the island-wide was signed signalling the end of ‘It’s generally believed figure runs well into the hundreds fighting on the Western Front. to be in or around 36,000.’ at least, and probably beyond. Thousands of those fighting in the The reasons for the Reasons for joining were many, British forces were Irish, a fact uncertainty are practical from plain economic necessity, to a with which our society has only in and stark. Many Irishmen conviction they were helping Ire- recent years started to make peace already living in Britain, land’s cause for Home Rule. with (and as recently as this week, as well as Canada and Laurence Roche is another of the they were being described as trai- Australia, enlisted but 11 highlighted by the GAA. He was tors on a radio phone-in show). The GAA there are no detailed fig- the most senior GAA figure to fight And of those, many were mem- bers of the GAA. In forgetting about them, the Association was doing nothing more than mirroring wider Irish society. There is a mod- esty to the gesture taken by the GAA in honouring the memory of those who died a century ago, but there is a poignancy to it, as well. ‘There is a lot of research done on GAA players who were involved in the Rising, the War of Independ- ence and the Civil War,’ says Dam- ian White, the chair of the GAA’s History and Commemorations Committee. ‘People came home from the war REMEMBERS and kept quiet. It’s important to acknowledge them and the sacri- It may have taken time, but the Association has fice they make. It mightn’t have been everyone’s choice, but they did what they thought was right. ‘We as an organisation should taken a small step in acknowledging an aspect acknowledge their sacrifice.’ Research into this area is expand- ing. Dr Dónal McAnallen has been studying the topic for some years, of its past that was, for so long, overlooked and Ross O’Carroll wrote an illumi- November 11, 2018 The Irish Mail on Sunday armistice day 1918 SPORT 77

Gaelic games’ brave WW1 heroes ber of that side before his death in ing ‘slightly displaced’. They were 1967. He is, along with Duggan, one returning to a society not directly John Cunningham the 1930 All-Ireland final as of two All-Ireland winners who impacted by a brutal conflict, and Monaghan lost to Kerry. Fought at fought in the war. where nationalist sentiment ran (Tipperary) CORPORAL both Passchendaele and the Cunningham served in the He was one of 80 young men from high. Somme in the Royal Irish Newmarket on Fergus alone that Rather than outright hostility, Leinster Regiment and died Fusiliers. fighting in France. He was joined the British Army to fight in their lot was often to find their posthumously honoured with a the war. experiences ignored. Victoria Cross which his mother Frank ‘Scout’ Butler Fox was injured at the Somme, ‘They went through a horrifying accepted from King George V at (Tipperary) BUTLER fought at and lived the rest of his life with experience, and the physical and shrapnel lodged in his head. psychological trauma of that is Buckingham Palace. Flanders in the First World War. A few years later, he played in goal On his return to Clare, Rule 21 something we’ve never really for Tipperary against Dublin in prevented him from playing the looked at in Irish history,’ says Barney Hennessy Croke Park, on the day that would game he loved, but he remained Richard McElligott. involved – despite, according to ‘What happened to these men? I’m A NATIVE of become known as Bloody Sunday. (Carlow) O’Carroll’s account, him being sure a lot of them felt displaced. It Graiguecullen he captained both jeered at matches for taking ‘John was a different Ireland to the one Carlow and Laois in his football Jimmy Clyne Bull’s soup’. they knew, because of the 1918 gen- career. He fought in France with McAnallen has elegantly referred eral election, because of the popu- the Connaught Rangers. (Leitrim) PLAYED with two of his brothers on the first Ballinamore to men returning to Ireland after lar mandate for Sinn Féin and team to win the Leitrim SFC. Died fighting in the British ranks as feel- subsequently the IRA’s cam- Thomas Bradley in France, only months after paign. ‘They were coming back (Monaghan) PLAYED in goal in enlisting, in the service of the Irish Guards, in October 1915. to being branded as trai- tors or as less Irish because of what they did. in the war, and came from a rela- during the Civil War. ‘Down in Kerry, for tively prosperous background. ‘I was a marked man,’ FACES example, Tom Crean, one Roche played in the All-Ireland Roche once recorded, ‘and OF THE of our great national heroes, football final won by Limerick was several times threatened PAST: never talked about his life or Commercials that decided the 1896 and revolvers pushed in my (from left) the his adventures because he was championship (played in 1898), and ribs’. Royal Irish Rifles associated with the British Navy. also in 1896, Roche was elected a Ross O’Carroll records some at the Somme in 1916, He couldn’t tell his story because of vice-president of the GAA. of the hostility within the GAA Irish seaman Tom the prevailing attitudes.’ Roche enlisted in 1914 and was itself, to men enlisting during Crean, Sean James Rossiter played for Wex- given a commission as a captain in the war years. In February 1915, Etchingham and a tank ford in All-Ireland football finals in the Royal Munster Fusiliers. for instance, Sean Etchingham, rolling at the Battle of 1913 and 1914. By the time the His experience attests to some of president of the Wexford board, Cambrai in 1917 county were winning the first of the hostility endured by Irishmen demanded that money given to a their famous four in a row in 1915, on their return from the war, with player injured in a football match, Rossiter was fighting in France. He attempts made to seize his lands be taken back because the player was injured at the Battle of Loos had enlisted. and died within days. And in July 1915, he writes, ‘the In his last letter home, Ros- honorary secretary of the Galway siter had written that play- county board, Stephen Jordan, ing in an All-Ireland final was charged with having made made him more nerv- statements considered prejudi- ous than going into cial to recruiting’. battle against the Yet in the same year, the Laois Germans. board put forward a motion arguing that members should be allowed to volunteer during the war without exclusion from the GAA, and that the prohibition on ex-British servicemen should be lifted, too. A ban on British police or mili- REMEMBERS tary personnel joining the GAA had been reintroduced in 1903 as Rule 21, and the infamous ban forbid- ding GAA members participating in foreign games had been in place since 1905, enshrined in Rule 27. John Fox played on the first Clare team to win an All-Ireland championship, in 1914, and would live to be the last-surviving mem- 80 SPORT ROWING The Irish Mail on Sunday May 19, 2019 This is home now... I’m a Kerry girl

INTERVIEW Since arriving in Ireland with no you’re not frightened by any of them.’ When her talent first By Shane McGrath moved in a serious direc- CHIEF SPORTS WRITER English, determination has tion, Dukarska was in her late teens, and torn between an attachment to N NOVEMBER 2, 2006, her native country, and the M o n i k a D u k a r s k a defined Monika Dukarska – she one that was starting to feel arrived in Ireland. She like home. was 16 years of age, from ‘I went to Poland in 2007 Poznan in Poland, and and 2008 to trial for their didn’t speak English hopes it gets her to the Olympics team. But then I thought, “I’m beyond a few phrases learned off 17, 18, I’m in Poland and my fami- Oby heart. ly’s in Ireland”. And I said, “I Kerry was her new home. what boats they think will be com- ‘It was mainly economic rea- big results. started rowing in Ireland, so why The following day, she went to petitive, and what boats they want sons,’ Monika explains. ‘My moth- Ambitions on a shot at Rio in would I row for Poland?” secondary school for the first to put forward then for events and er’s workplace liquidated and her 2016 did not materialise, though, ‘This was the country that time, in Intermediate School Kil- qualification regattas,’ she says. friend’s husband was already in and she admits now that the expe- invested in me and had the belief lorglin. ‘Once they decide that, they say Ireland. That’s how it all hap- rience left her flat, to the point in me, and so I said, “I’m declaring ‘I didn’t have much conversa- “We can produce a good women’s pened. I remember the first day I that she stepped away from the for Ireland”.’ tional English, so that was quite pair or women’s four”, and then went to school, and afterwards I elite end of the sport for a spell. The notion of being an inspira- tough,’ she remembers. ‘I spent they open that up for selection. was crying and said, “I’m not ‘Things hadn’t worked out, and I tion is not one that sits with her hours and hours just listening. ‘You go through a number of tri- going back there again”,’ nearly felt low mood-wise, easily. ‘And homework was done with als to prove yourself, and then she laughs. and I wasn’t feeling the ‘When I go to Killorglin and two dictionaries, trying to trans- based on your times on the rowing ‘It was tough. same passion, the fire there is training on, I’ll come down late everything.’ machine and on the water and so ‘People were lovely wasn’t burning in and help out and give any tips I Eighteen months later, she sat on, and in different combination, and they were com- the belly,’ she nods. can. I’m trying to give them a the Leaving Certificate, and did they’ll say, “These two people are ing up to me. I just 1 ‘I took time away helping hand because I went well enough to earn a place in the best in the pair”.’ had the basics: Killorglin was the first from the team. through it all, and hopefully accel- Tralee IT, studying for a degree in There is no outward sign that “Hello, my name Irish club to affliliate After the World erate their journey. business studies. Monika Dukarska is feeling the is” and “Where is to both the Irish Championships in ‘Maybe when I retire I will look She is still studying there today, pressure. She relishes performing …?” Amateur Rowing Union 2015, I went home. at myself and say, I inspired peo- working on a PhD. And that’s not at a high level, in all aspects of her Her height, she I got back to my ple to take up the sport. I’m hum- the half of it. Her academic career life. says, made her stand and the Irish Coastal home club in Killor- ble,’ she grins. has gone part-time while Dukar- ‘It stresses me out sometimes,’ out even more, ‘then I Rowing Federation glin, and the coach, Relatives in Poland are proud of ska devotes herself to winning a she smiles, considering a day that had these big, massive Michael Fleming, who what she has achieved. The brav- place at 2020 Olympics. could incorporate three training platform shoes with my uni- started me on day one, ery her mother showed in moving Rowing is her sport. For that sessions, time for rest and recov- form so I was even taller’. looked after me again. to Ireland on her own almost 13 startled teenager who moved ery, and a couple of hours of aca- One new schoolmate recognised ‘He’s a great mentor of mine.’ years ago, preparing the way for from eastern Europe to Ireland’s demic research. the rowing potential in her build, The fire was rekindled. ‘Winning her family to follow, is what makes west coast, rowing was much, ‘It’s exactly who I am: I’m very though. a world medal and getting to the Monika Dukarska marvel. much more than a pastime: it was much output and result-driven. She started visiting Killorglin Olympics is unfinished business ‘It was an opportunity, and I also a language school, a social ‘That gets me going again for Rowing Club, and if it helped the that I want to get ticked off the really admire my mother for tak- outlet, a means of understanding more.’ young Monika perfect her English list. I love the sport. I couldn’t stay ing that step and bringing us all her new home and its people. Her mother, Katarzyna, moved and start to feel settled in Ireland, away from it.’ the way here, because this is home And now, maybe, it could take to Ireland three months before the benefits did not flow just one She is based once again at the now. Life is great. her all the way to Japan, and the her father, Jacek, followed with way. Her talent was soon obvious, National Rowing Centre in Innis- ‘I’m a Kerry girl, that’s it.’ greatest sporting show on earth. Monika and her younger sister, and by 2010 she was a high per- carra in Cork, returned to the high She will do everything to be an It won’t be a solo effort. Coaches Agnieszka. formance athlete with designs on performance programme and Irish Olympian by the end of next in the Rowing Ireland high per- immersed in the hard, spare life- summer, too. formance programme have style that is the lot of every ath- ‘My goal is to get to Tokyo. I’m teamed Dukarska with Aifric lete with Olympic ambitions. trying to qualify now for my sec- Keogh, hoping they can qualify as Focus: Monika ‘Oh it’s a tough sport, there’s no ond Games. It didn’t work out for a pair. Dukarska (right) doubt about that,’ she laughs. me for Rio, and I took it on the The early signs are said to be in action with ‘The training programme is very chin.’ encouraging, and, as with other Aileen Crowley hard, I would say it’s the hardest She tries once more. For a rowers entertaining Olympic that I have ever done. woman who was once a teenager ambitions, Dukarska and Keogh ‘The results are there. It backs translating homework from Eng- face into a crucial few months, itself up, so there is no point ques- lish into Polish and then back culminating in the World Champi- tioning it. You just have to put again, challenge is a matter of onships in Austria at the end of your head down and do it. You perspective. August. have it done in training, you have She has conquered bigger Eleven of the thirteen available the times, you know you can do it ones. qualifying slots for the Games will – but then on the day, you just be decided in Austria, with the don’t know. final two places allotted at a ‘The course in Tokyo will be wimbledon’s regatta in the early summer of choppy as well, so you just have to grand plans 2020. take every day as it comes, and Go to page 59 ‘Coaches pretty much decide get exposed to the conditions so May 19, 2019 The Irish Mail on Sunday GOLF SPORT 81 Underachiever McIlroy needs to pull himself out of his comfort zone... I’m trying to qualify for while there’s still time my second comment comfy: but greatness is still Games, it By Oliver Holt in Rory’s grasp EVEN if Rory McIlroy never wins didn’t work another tournament, he will still go down in history as one of the best out for Rio golfers Europe ever produced. Only Seve Ballesteros and Nick Faldo from this continent have won more and I took it than his tally of four majors - and neither of them won the US Open or the US PGA Championship, as on the chin McIlroy has done. So he’s already an all-time great. McIlroy seems happy. He has more than enough money to keep him and his family in comfort for the rest of their lives. A week ago, the Sunday Times Rich List valued his wealth at £138m. He appears to be content in his personal life. All things considered, he probably doesn’t cry himself to sleep at night at the injustice of it all. Perhaps this is a Euro-centric view but it is hard to shake the feeling that when McIlroy plays at his best, he surrounded himself with old friends has no equal. But in the last five years and people he is comfortable with. In he has not been able to produce his many ways that is to his credit. It is a best when it has mattered most. sign of his loyalty. Only he knows Others, particularly Brooks Koepka, what he needs to get the best out of have mastered the knack of rising to himself but there is a conspicuous the biggest occasions. In the time lack of people in his circle to since McIlroy last won a major, challenge him. There are no independent voices. Making a He is having a great year, though. Splash: he doesn’t Before this weekend, he had played Monika in eight tournaments in 2019 and Dukarska lack steel finished in the top 10 in seven of them. He won the Players ... yet he is Championship in March with a masterful display. The problem, still falling partly, is that McIlroy is a prisoner of our lofty expectations, born of the short achievements of his youth when he won the US Open, the US PGA Koepka has won three and looks set Championship (twice) and the Open to add a fourth today. Time is passing by the age of 25. McIlroy by. We all got a little bit giddy. This kid All this has contributed to a nagging was the heir to Tiger Woods and Jack feeling of drift. It’s not that anything Nicklaus, we thought. But after his is radically wrong, McIlroy is always second US PGA Championship win in in the conversation when people talk 2014, the major victories dried up. It about potential major winners. Nor is almost five years now since he won could anyone accuse a man who has one of the big ones. In their prime, won as much as he has of lacking neither Woods nor Nicklaus endured steel. And yet he is falling short. a drought that lasted even half as There have been missteps off the long. course that have contributed to that ‘Winning a major isn’t easy,’ feeling of drift around McIlroy. His Nicklaus said, with a hint of handling of the decision not to play in impatience, when I asked him about the Rio Olympics in 2016 was McIlroy’s drought last month. But in appalling. At first, McIlroy blamed the last five years, Koepka and his reluctance to take part on the Zika Jordan Spieth have both found it less virus. In the end, he said the truth onerous, and they are younger. was he resented the Olympics for McIlroy did not challenge at making him choose between playing Augusta last month and he blew any for Britain or Ireland. He ridiculed chance of contending for the USPGA the inclusion of golf in it. He said he this weekend with two mediocre would watch the Olympics but not the opening rounds. On Friday he golf. Asked which events he would dropped five shots in his opening watch, he made another attempt to three holes. It left him in the now- belittle golf’s inclusion. ‘The stuff familiar position of clutching at that matters,’ he said. straws, saying that he had won a Strange then that McIlroy declared tournament from being three over last week that he was now excited after 36 holes before. about playing in the Olympics in Just turned 30, McIlroy is in the Tokyo next year. Presumably, he has prime of his career and yet the grand decided it matters now, although he prizes keep slipping away from him. left that point moot when he If he’s happy with what he’s already announced he was intending to take achieved and content to get on with part. Cynics pointed out that Japan is enjoying his life, no one could blame a huge market for golf. him. If he wants to become the heir to McIlroy’s Olympics mess suggests Woods and Nicklaus again, he must a man in need of wise counsel. He has drag himself out of his comfort zone.