GAA manager took cocaine straight after county final win during addiction battle
David Hosie, 47, is now the manager of Seneschalstown men's senior football team after he sought treatment when he hit rock bottom, and is now sharing his story with clubs in the hope of saving someone else from the hell he lived in for over 30 years.
The prodigious footballer, who played at senior level for his native O'Mahony's club in Navan at just 17 years old and also excelled at soccer, turned to drink and then drugs before he turned 16.
"I grew up in a tough estate and was full of fear and anxiety from an early age. I always seemed to be craving acceptance," he said.
"My heroes were Colm O'Rourke of the Meath team and Ian Rush of Liverpool and I used to pretend to be them so I didn't have to be myself. I was only eight or nine at that time."
David's dad was his hero and played for Parkvilla but tragedy hit the family when he contracted meningitis and suffered life-long complications.
"I think that was the catalyst because my home life became a bit fractured because we were always at the hospital and I started building resentment against the world. I was a very angry boy.
"The only place I was comfortable in my own skin was on the pitch so I put everything in to excel at football."
David started taking cider and acid tablets and liked how it made him confident and popular. He eventually progressed to Ecstacy tablets, speed and amphetamines and prescription drugs before turning to cocaine.
"It became my solution," he said.
"I drank to black out and drugged addictively."
However, his addiction took its toll on his career and he was sacked from his job as an upholsterer. He joined An Post and missed 200 days of work in the last four years of his addiction.
During this time, he continued to excel at both GAA and soccer.
"I was getting letters from Liverpool about sending someone over to watch me. I played with all the Meath underage teams and was in the under-17 Development squad.
"I turned up at a game still drunk and coming down off the drugs.
"I had a mask for everyone and had built up a character called 'Hosie'. I lost David."
In 1997, he won a Meath Senior Championship with Navan O'Mahony's and was the top scorer in the county championship with a total of two goals and 24 points.
"I was getting free drink and acceptance and the better I played, the more I got. But when the final whistle went on that match, I walked off the pitch, the loneliest man in the world."
"I had no emotion. I had cocaine waiting for me in my pocket in the dressing room and I went and took it.
"I went on benders and didn't stop until the money ran out or my body gave up."
David was eventually dropped from the Meath minor team and left O'Mahony's before he returned in 2002, two stone overweight and with a hole in his soul.
One week before an Intermediate final between O'Mahony's and Carnaross in 2003, David went on a bender and missed training for the important game.
He was told he would not be on the starting team but was played due to his past form and kicked one goal and four points in the game.
"I was spiritually, mentally and physically bankrupt at that stage," he said.
David left football, got married and admitted he was half drunk and high on drugs on the altar. When his eldest child joined Seneschalstown GAA Club, he decided to go back and coach the under-21s.
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"We won the Meath under-21 Championship and I went on a bender, blacked out and was found on a street in Navan."
He went on to coach the senior teams in Seneschalstown, Bective and Bohermeen between 2015 and 2021 but eventually the wheels came off the wagon and his marriage fell apart.
"It suited me. I had no responsibilities so I could drink when I wanted. But then relatives threw me out and I sofa surfed.
In 2022, David tried to take his own life with wine and painkillers but he was found unresponsive in time. He tried to take his life again but thankfully found himself ringing a friend, which led to his stay in Cuan Mhuire Treatment Centre in Athy, Co. Kildare.
"When I walked through those doors, I thought life was ending but it was only beginning. I was initially planning my escape and how I'd celebrate when I got out but slowly it dawned on me that I was being saved.
"Recovery is wonderful but difficult and I'm on a journey of finding out who I am. The best thing about recovery is getting my feelings back and the worst thing is getting my feelings back."
Two years ago, David got a call asking him to manage the Ladies team at Seneschalstown.
"I was a bit apprehensive, but the first time I went down, I knew it was where I belonged. It was a wonderful experience with them."
He took on the role of the manager of the senior men's team in January and believes he has finally found the acceptance he craved - from himself.
"I'm David again. I'm not Hosie anymore. The disease of addiction robbed so much of my life but I'm finally able to live again."
If you have been affected by the contents of this article, support can be found from the following resources:
National Drugs and Alcohol Helpline: 1800 459 459 (Monday-Friday, 9.30am - 5.30pm) or helpline@hse.ie.
The Samaritans: 116 123 (24 hours a day, 365 days of the year) or jo@samaritans.org.
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