How exactly the fixation on Colm O’Rourke as my first hero began is unclear. The best guess which can be hazarded regarding same is that the distinctive blue bandage on the wounded left knee and his tendency to kick the ball 100ft up in the air when going for a point were what set him apart to young, impressionable me.
Whatever it was, once he got back off the bus before the team left Dunboyne on the night after the 1990 All Ireland Final to spend some time with yours truly, admiration went on to move closer to worship. Whence it remained until his playing days concluded. At least.
However, perhaps it was inevitable that as I got older, got a powered wheelchair and became actively involved in GAA myself – both at club level and throwing the net a bit wider in a professional capacity – I’ve had the pleasure and privilege of getting to know nearly all the Meath players of a a given day and another raft of others whose deeds were the bait which hooked these wheels to a lifetime of involvement – in some capacity or other.
Now, while it breaks one’s heart to accept that involvement will at this stage never go in the desired direction, what will be said, though, is that when you are blessed enough to have your heroes become your best friends time stands still.
You can go weeks, months or in some cases years without seeing each other and yet, when the reunion does come about, it’s as if ye were together the night before. Which is why it was such an honour and pleasure to be invited to the reception for Meath’s All Ireland heroes of 1999 in our own clubhouse. After the lads were ‘honoured’ as the GAA’s Silver Jubilee before the meeting of Armagh and Galway.
The word ‘honoured’ is fitted with inverted commas there because the manner in which the lads were treated was a shambolic disgrace. Back in the day when the All Ireland series was organised properly and Minor games were the curtain raisers to their senior counterparts, either Mick Dunne or Micheal O’Muirceartaigh introuced the anniversary team in the gap between the end of the Minor game and the start of the Senior and made a ceremony out of their presentation.
Now, of course, the All Ireland Football and Hurling Final days are a badly coreographed fudge. Instead of being the crowning jewels in the GAA’s calendar, the occasions now resemble the official opening of a club pitch.
Charging people €100 a ticket would be reprehensible enough if the occasion was a double header. But doing it for a stand alone fixture is greed bordering on extortion. We can only hope that Jarlath Burns’ “This belongs to you” speech – which will someday reside up there with” I Have A Dream” – will be followed by actions remedying the current major malfunctions.
The Minor matches need to be restored to Croker and – this is going out on a limb here but what of it – €50 should be the most charged into any match at HQ. Charge less, sell more. Also, give participating counties 20,000 tickets each, and, if/when the Minor is returned to the big field, give both teams involved 10,000, that leaves 22,300 tickets remaining to go on general sale. Neutrals do like to attend games as well, you know.
If the “It belongs to you” tagline is to hold water, though, surely that should never be more the case than on the two greatest days of the year for our National games. Let the prawn sandwich brigade go hungry for once.
Because, if you happen to be a disabled fan or journalist, it certainly doesn’t feel like it belongs to you. What with the fact there are no Disabled Viewing facilities on the Hogan Stand side of the field. Those that do exist in the Cusack Stand and Canal End are a disgrace and you’d get to Spike Island quicker than accessing them.
Thus, with all of the above and the other brouhaha pertaining to press accreditation, having not been able to be in attendance to see our lads honoured, it was a humbling and highly emotional honour to be invited to join them at the reception on home territory.
Being honest, the minute Sean was spotted welling up when introduced to the crowd, the waterworks were away here too. Mind you, that was only the first of many bouts of excretion of ocular fluid during the day and night. The next and probably most significant batch of blubbering arriving when the entire capacity thereof disembarked from the bus and formed a guard of honour the whole way around the carpark and all the way into the bar for An Bainisteoir.
Thereafter, personally speaking, highly emotional moments were shared with Sean and David Gallagher and Graham Geraghty and Richie Kealy. Though what was and will be equally as treasured was catching up with those whose paths haven’t been crossed in far too long. Former Co Board official James Reilly, and the likes of Cormac Sullivan, Mark O’Reilly, ‘Spud’ Murphy, Hank Traynor, Nigel Nestor, Donal Curtis, Ray McGee, Tommy Dowd, Jody Devine, Paul Shankey, Barry Callaghan, Trevor Giles and Conor Martin.
Tom Dermody – who was the chief organiser from our club – Sean, Eoghan Lynch or Amanda Geraghty (apparently director of operations for the occasion in an overall sense) will truly never understand how much it meant to me to be present for such an occasion. For no secret has ever made made of the impact Meath (and Dunboyne) teams doing well has on my life to a level that far outweighs the merits of what actually transpires between the white lines.
Though a pinch is honestly often still required to comprehend the fact that 25 – now 26 in effect – years have elapsed since Graham lifted Sam that damp September day and while it of course makes you more appreciative of the good days and, indeed, occasions such as that last weekend, there’s also the realisation that there’s at least one generation of young people who’ve never known Meath to be winners.
Though in the interest of fairness and attributing credit where’s due, it must be acknowledged that progress has been made in terms of structures within the county and, due to same, the fortunes of county underage teams have commensurately improved markedly.
Which manifested itself as a first Leinster U-20/21 title in 23 years. Management of their obvious talent will be crucial in the short to medium term to ensure maximum advantage can be accrurd from their undoubted talents for the longer term.
You can only live off past glories for so long. The time has come for a new generation to make their own history.
However, until that happens, the deeds of those from ’99 become ever more precious to recall. Those were the days, my friends, we thought they’d never end.
Ladies and gentlemen of the class of ’99, thank you for the memories.
