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‘Rainbow Laces is a great initiative… It’s something the GAA should be doing’ – Darran O’Sullivan

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3 years ago

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INCLUSIVE: Darran O'Sullivan says that an openly gay player could rely on his teammates for support. Pic: Sportsfile.

Former Kerry footballer Darran O’Sullivan believes the GAA should follow the Premier League’s lead by taking part in the Rainbow Laces campaign.

A number of sporting bodies in the UK recently participated in Rainbow Laces, an initiative set up in 2013 to help create more LGBT-inclusive sports environments.

As part of the campaign, Premier League players sported rainbow-coloured laces and captain’s armbands, rainbow-coloured welcome mats were rolled out outside stadia and Sky Sports incorporated rainbow-coloured graphics into their live football programming and highlights shows.

The increased visibility appears to be having an effect. A poll carried out by Stonewall, the UK-based equality charity behind Rainbow Laces, shows that 65% of the British public now believe that it’s important for anti-LGBT language to be challenged at live sporting events, a 7% increase on last year.

However, Stonewall also revealed that 43% of LGBT people still feel that sporting events are not welcoming environments for them.

Speaking exclusively to the Killarney Advertiser, O’Sullivan, who played for Kerry from 2005 until 2018, praised the campaign and encouraged the GAA to follow suit.

“I think Rainbow Laces is a great initiative and it is something the GAA should be doing,” he said.

“The GAA is extremely powerful and it's a very open, welcoming place at the moment. You have players who didn’t grow up in Ireland, people from totally different backgrounds, who are all welcomed. It’s very inclusive, and that’s the way it should be.

“[Rainbow Laces] is a great way of encouraging players to be themselves. You have more and more players now who are not just going along with what you’d expect GAA players to be. Like other sports, the GAA has to move with the times as well and make sure that it’s more open, that you don’t have to be a stereotype to be a GAA player; you can be any type of person.

“I think the GAA needs to move along, and they are quite open to these things.

"An initiative like the Rainbow Laces would go a long way. It would be a good thing for the GAA to do, even if it was only for one weekend a year.”

When contacted by the Killarney Advertiser, Stonewall said that they would like to see Rainbow Laces in the GAA.

"The whole campaign is about inclusion for LGBT people across all sport, so we absolutely have aspirations to go as far and wide as possible," a spokesperson said. "We would definitely support teams and clubs in Ireland to get involved if they’re interested."

CHANGES

O'Sullivan, a four-time All-Ireland-winner and former Kerry captain, says he doesn’t recall homophobic language or anti-LGBT discourse ever being prevalent in a Kerry dressing room, although he does acknowledge that times, and attitudes, have changed.

“Maybe it was something that I just wasn’t picking up on. It was never really a topic in our dressing room.

“The one thing I will say is that over the years I think fellas have become more sensitive to other people’s feelings and are more aware of other people than we would have been at the start [of his career].

“I think that comes with growing and having a bit more of an education around mental health. As the years have gone on and younger players – I suppose the more modern day players – have come in, fellas are a bit more aware that it’s not just players beside you, it’s people. If a fella is feeling a bit off, they take note of these things and they’re more open about talking.”

Cork hurler Dónal Óg Cusack came out in 2009 but since his retirement in 2013, the GAA has had no other openly gay male players. Have things progressed enough for a gay Kerry player, if one existed now or in the future, to come out?

“I don’t think there would be any problem with a player coming out in the GAA,” the Glenbeigh-Glencar clubman said.

“I think his teammates would be the first to stand around him and make sure he knows that he’s still the same person and nothing has changed."

"I think [in the dressing room] is where he’d get the most support. They’re the guys he spends four or five days a week with. They’re the guys who probably know him better than anyone else.

“That would end up being his safe place.

“The GAA and Irish people in general, especially the younger generation, are a lot more open, a lot more understanding. A GAA dressing room would be a safe place for someone, somewhere they could feel comfortable to be themselves.

“At the moment I think it would nearly be easier for a player at intercounty level to come out than at club level. At club level, it might be a bit tougher because someone might say something off the bat, in anger or in jest, and not think about the consequences.

“At intercounty level with the media attention that’s on it and the professionalism of players at the moment, I think it would be a fairly safe place.”

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Kingdom hoping to lay some old ghosts to rest at Páirc Uí Chaoimh

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4 days ago

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2 June 2023

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by Adam Moynihan

All-Ireland SFC Group 1

Cork v Kerry

Saturday at 3pm

Páirc Uí Chaoimh

I was one of the unlucky few to have been present at the last Cork-Kerry clash in Páirc Uí Chaoimh in November of 2020. It was a truly awful night.

The match was played behind closed doors which made for an eerie, unsettling atmosphere, and the rain came down harder than I ever remember seeing first-hand.

Unfortunately, Kerry came down hard too. Mark Keane’s last-ditch goal clinched an unexpected victory for the hosts and, just like that, Kerry’s year was over.

It always hurts when your team loses but that one completely floored us all. It was such a horrible way to lose a game and I felt so bad for the players as they trudged off the field, soaked to the bone and shaken to the core.

They got some form of payback the following year when they won by 21 in the Munster final, and again last year when they ran out 11-point winners in the semi-final. But something tells me that it would mean a lot more to return to Páirc Uí Chaoimh and do the business there.

It won’t be easy. The final scorelines in the last two games suggest that it was all one-way traffic but that simply wasn’t the case. In 2021, Cork led by 1-5 to 0-4 at the water break (remember those?) and they pushed Kerry hard 12 months ago too. There was nothing in that match right up until the 50th minute, at which point Kerry brought on David Moran and Paul Geaney and ultimately pulled away.

You can never really read too much into the McGrath Cup but Cork demolished Kerry in January. Their form since has been spotty but they did well to see off Louth last week, with the returning Brian Hurley (shoulder) kicking eight points in a two-point win. Hurley has proved to be a handful for Kerry full back Jason Foley in the past.

Significantly, John Cleary’s side are strong in a key area where Kerry struggled against Mayo: midfield. Ian Maguire and Colm O’Callaghan scored 0-2 each in Navan (and the latter scored 2-4 in that aforementioned McGrath Cup game at the start of the year).

Jack O’Connor named his team last night with Adrian Spillane replacing Tony Brosnan and Paul Murphy coming in for Dylan Casey. Spillane will add some extra brawn and energy around the middle third. Going by the last outing, Kerry need it.

It is also worth noting that David Clifford has never really shot the lights out against Cork. He has been well minded by Maurice Shanley, Seán Meehan and Kevin Flahive in the past three championship meetings, with the retreating Seán Powter also getting stuck in when needed.

Flahive suffered a cruciate injury late in last year’s game but he could potentially be in line for a comeback tomorrow; he has been added to Cork’s 26 for the first time in over 12 months.

Meehan has been ruled out with a hamstring injury so Shanley may be asked to track the Footballer of the Year this time around.

Clifford was one of the few bright sparks against Mayo and he would love to bring that form to the Páirc on Saturday. With vital points on the line, there would be no better time to lay some ghosts to rest.

From a Kerry perspective, you would hope – and perhaps expect – that Clifford and his teammates can do exactly that and get the show back on the road.

KERRY TEAM

1. Shane Ryan

2. Graham O’Sullivan

3. Jason Foley

4. Tom O’Sullivan

5. Paul Murphy

6. Tadhg Morley

7. Gavin White

8. Diarmuid O’Connor

9. Jack Barry

10. Dara Moynihan

11. Seánie O’Shea

12. Adrian Spillane

13. Paudie Clifford

14. David Clifford

15. Paul Geaney

Subs: S Murphy, T Brosnan, D Casey, BD O’Sullivan, R Murphy, M Burns, M Breen, S O’Brien, D O’Sullivan, C O’Donoghue, S O’Brien.

CORK TEAM

1. Micheál Aodh Martin

2. Maurice Shanley

3. Rory Maguire

4. Kevin O’Donovan

5. Luke Fahy

6. Daniel O’Mahony

7. Matty Taylor

8. Colm O’Callaghan

9. Ian Maguire

10. Brian O’Driscoll

11. Ruairí Deane

12. Killian O’Hanlon

13. Seán Powter

14. Brian Hurley

15. Chris Óg Jones

Subs: P Doyle, C Kiely, T Clancy, K Flahive, P Walsh, E McSweeney, B Murphy, J O’Rourke , M Cronin, S Sherlock, F Herlihy.

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Is Killarney green or blue? Celtic and Athletic to face off in tonight’s league final

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4 days ago

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2 June 2023

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Kerry Premier A League Final

Killarney Celtic v Killarney Athletic

Tonight at 7.45pm

Mounthawk Park, Tralee

Killarney Celtic will be gunning for their fifth league title in a row tonight (Friday) when they take on crosstown rivals Killarney Athletic in Tralee.

Celtic have been the dominant force in Kerry soccer in recent times with Athletic playing second fiddle. This will be the third Premier A final in a row to be contested by the Killarney clubs; Celtic won the 2020 decider 4-0 and last year’s final ended in a 3-0 victory for the club from Derreen. (The 2020/21 season was scrapped due to the pandemic.)

Prior to that, Celtic defeated Castleisland in 2019 and Dingle Bay Rovers in 2018, both on a scoreline of 1-0.

Celtic and Athletic also met in the 2017 final. The Blues prevailed in that particular encounter to capture their first ever Premier A title.

As for this season, Neilus Hayes’ Hoops qualified for the final by virtue of their first-place finish in the Premier A. Despite losing key players – including attackers Ryan Kelliher, Stephen McCarthy and Trpimir Vrljicak – to the Kerry FC project, the Celts won 12 of their 14 matches and ended up with an imposing goal difference of +34.

Athletic were not far behind, however; Stuart Templeman’s team only lost one league game all season en route to 35 points – one behind Celtic and 11 clear of Castleisland in third.

Interestingly, both of Celtic’s losses came at the hands of Athletic. The Woodlawn outfit impressively beat the old enemy 3-2 and 0-1 over the course of the regular season.

Goals by Roko Rujevcan, Pedja Glumcevic and a 90th-minute winner by Brendan Moloney clinched that dramatic 3-2 win in October of last year. It was a result that signalled Athletic’s intentions for the rest of the season.

Rujevcan was also on the scoresheet when Athletic snatched a rare away win at Celtic Park on April 30.

Celtic’s imposing record in finals probably makes them slight favourites and in the likes of John McDonagh, Brendan Falvey, Wayne Sparling, Kevin O’Sullivan and Witness Odirile they have a potent mix of steel and skill.

But Athletic will take heart from their recent results in this fixture and they will be hoping that two of the stars from the 2017 team – Shane Doolan and Shane Lynch – can lead the current crop of players to glory.

Meanwhile, the Division 2B final between Killarney Athletic B and Atletico Ardfert that was also due to take place tonight has been cancelled. Athletic have received a walkover.

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