Sean Óg Is a Winner
By Declan O’Kelly and Frank Shouldice
 The captain of the
Cork hurling team, Sean Óg Ó hAilpín, is an inspiration
in more ways than one.
Captain Sean Óg Ó hAilpín’s Cork hurling team
defended its All-Ireland crown on September 11, after an enthralling encounter
with Galway.
After dusting himself off and accepting the Liam McCarthy Cup, Sean Óg
delivered his victory speech in perfect Irish. The speech began with the
line, “Is mór an bóthar o Fiji go Corcaigh agus is
mór an bóthar o Corc go Pairc an Crocaigh.” This translates,
“It’s a long road from Fiji to Cork and a long road from Cork
to Croke Park.”
The revered GAA commentator Micheal O Muircheartaigh captured the Cork
captain best when he said, “Sean Óg Ó hAilpín:
his father’s from Fermanagh, his mother’s from Fiji, neither
a hurling stronghold.”
Sean Óg’s mother Emeli comes from Rotuma in Fiji. She met
and married Sean Óg’s father Sean and they have four sons,
Sean Óg, Setanta, Teu and Aisake (two sons named after their Irish
heritage and two named after their Fijian background). Sean Óg
spent the first 10 years of his life in Sydney before the family
moved to Cork. A dual footballer and hurler, Ó hAilpín won
his third All-Ireland hurling medal this year. His winning speech was
a throwback to a time when it was the norm for speeches to be made in
Irish and not, unfortunately these days, the exception.
Sinn Féin were so impressed with the clean-cut Gaelgoir that they
tried to persuade him to run as a candidate in the forthcoming general
election but Ó hAilpín declined, saying he wanted to concentrate
on his sporting and professional responsibilities.
In other Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) news, the GAA will have to
rethink the future of the international rules series.
The Irish team, boasting names such as the aforementioned Sean Óg
Ó hAilpín, team captain Padraig Joyce and five of
the triumphant Tyrone football team, came off second best against the
Australian players in recent games in Melbourne and Perth.
Australia defeated Ireland comprehensively by 163 to 106 points in this
two-match series, which combines Aussie Rules football with Gaelic football.
However, the second match in Melbourne was seriously marred by a litany
of dangerous tackling and fist-fighting off the ball, culminating
when Australian captain Chris Johnson was sent off for assaulting Tyrone’s
Philip Jordan.
Team manager Pete McGrath accepted being beaten by a superior team but
condemned the behavior which throws the whole future of the hybrid game
into question. “I can’t say strongly enough that what happened
out there in certain instances is unacceptable in any sport,” he
said. “It goes outside the parameters, putting life and limb at
serious risk.” Following the debacle that incensed Irish players
and supporters, many are now following Tyrone boss Mickey Harte’s
call that the whole experiment should be scrapped.
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