Latest news with #Meath
Irish Daily Mirror
7 hours ago
- Sport
- Irish Daily Mirror
GAA manager took cocaine straight after county final win during addiction battle
A GAA senior club manager and former Meath underage player has revealed how he reached for cocaine in the dressing room after winning a county Championship final in the grip of addiction. 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. The Irish Mirror's Crime Writers Michael O'Toole and Paul Healy are writing a new weekly newsletter called Crime Ireland. Click here to sign up and get it delivered to your inbox every week "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@ The Samaritans: 116 123 (24 hours a day, 365 days of the year) or jo@
Irish Times
14 hours ago
- Sport
- Irish Times
Malachy Clerkin: Ger Brennan's time with Louth will be remembered long after his shoes are filled
In a sense, Ger Brennan will never achieve more anywhere else than he already has with Louth . He will manage more teams, he will presumably win more trophies. But none of it will have the same impact as the shake, rattle and roll he gave Louth football this summer. Think about it. If he does become the Dublin manager, be it now or in the future, what can he do there that will compare? The next Dubs team to win a Leinster title will be met by little more than a shrug. The next All-Ireland will be hailed to the heavens, celebrated lustily in all parts of the city. But it won't be like a spaceship falling out of the sky in the way Louth's Leinster title was. [ Ger Brennan steps down as Louth football manager Opens in new window ] In the week after they beat Meath at the end of May, everyone you talked to in Louth kept falling back on the same mantra. The kids have something to latch on to now in the GAA, in a way no Louth people have had for generations. If you're a Dublin supporter under the age of 20, you've spent essentially your whole sentient life watching your team win All-Irelands. If you're a Louth supporter under the age of 75, all your memories have been bitter ones. Until now. Ger Brennan didn't change that all by himself but he'll be forever remembered as the man whose name was above the door when it happened. Given the players they have and the underage success the county has been racking up, maybe it looks from this vantage point like it was only a matter of time. But nobody was saying that when Mickey Harte skedaddled to the Derry job at the end of 2023. READ MORE Louth's Sam Mulroy lifts the Delaney Cup after their Leinster final win over Meath. Photograph: James Crombie/Inpho This was not inevitable. Anything but, in fact. When Brennan came on board, Louth had been to a Leinster final earlier in the year but had been torched by Dublin to the tune of 5-21 to 0-15. It was a day out for their supporters – a first Leinster final in 13 years and only a second since 1960. But that's all it was. Or all it looked like, from the outside anyway. We all presumed that nobody was going to be taking Dublin's Leinster crown anytime soon. And that if anyone was going to, it would be when either Meath or Kildare got their house in order. Louth had been a decent league team under Harte, making it all the way up to finishing third in Division Two. But once he and Gavin Devlin left, that was surely going to be that for a while. We were wrong. All of us. Not only did we underestimate Brennan, we didn't give the players themselves the credit they deserved. These were serious intercounty players, not starry-eyed kids with a ponytail and a dream. They had been around long enough to take Harte's departure in a notably more grown-up fashion than a lot of the people who were outraged on their behalf. 'Look, it was never Mickey Harte's county,' Sam Mulroy told The Irish Times when Brennan took over. 'It's players who represent Louth on the pitch. Managers come and go. When they're there, they give it their all. There's a respect there between managers and players and you get on with it. It's as exciting having Ger in as it was having Mickey there. Sam Mulroy after scoring a goal for Louth in the Leinster final. Photograph: James Crombie/Inpho 'It's a serious position to be in for a Louth footballer to be going playing under All-Ireland winners. Nothing has changed in that way. Life goes on. We've played under many managers before, we'll play under many in years to come. It is what it is. We do a job when we cross those white lines, we do it to the best of our ability every time. It's just a different message, a different voice every few years. That's the way GAA is.' And so they kicked on. They led Dublin at half-time in last year's Leinster final and finished second in their group behind Kerry before beating Cork to make the All-Ireland quarter-final. Craig Lennon won their first All Star since 2010. Brennan's first season was so much more than a consolidation of the Harte era and it gave them a sniff of more. Along the way, Brennan's management style turned out to be exactly what they needed, when they needed it. He is a deep believer in numbers and data and his time in UCD has certainly left him well acquainted with the more jargony end of the sports science world. He is no seller of pipe dreams. The Louth players always knew what was expected of them and what was achievable when they fulfilled those expectations. But on top of all that, there's a decency and an emotional intelligence to Brennan the manager that, let's just say, wasn't always visible in Brennan the player. He was able to relate to the younger members of the squad just as readily as the likes of Tommy Durnin, alongside whom he actually played for a summer in Boston back in the day. The Louth players responded and he took them beyond themselves. Ger Brennan and Dessie Farrell after last year's Leinster final. Photograph: Tom Maher/Inpho So what now? There had been rumours on the ground in Louth over the past while that Brennan would be moving on – and maybe Dessie Farrell's admission over the weekend that the Dublin County Board had known all year that he would be finishing up at the end of the 2025 championship bears that out. He's the obvious choice for the Dublin job, if for no other reason than the list of viable candidates is not overly long. With more departures likely and no underage success coming through to feed the next wave of Dublin teams, following Farrell, Jim Gavin and Pat Gilroy is no picnic. But then, neither was the Louth job when Brennan arrived. As for Louth, they will be fine. More than fine, in fact. They have the All-Ireland under-20 runners-up to start filtering into the senior ranks, as well as an excellent minor team that was just pipped in a thrilling Leinster final this year, many of whom are eligible again in 2026. They have a good age profile too – Mulroy, Lennon and Ryan Burns are all still in their mid-20s, with Durnin the only one of their main men over 30. Regardless of who takes over, they will be a force in what is suddenly a revitalised Leinster championship. One way or another, they are still rising. Brennan played a huge part in that and they will be forever intertwined.
BBC News
14 hours ago
- Sport
- BBC News
The GAA Social with Louth goalkeeper Niall McDonnell
This week's GAA Social podcast sees Oisin and Thomas joined by Louth goalkeeper Niall helped his county to win the Leinster title for the first time in 68 years in May as they beat Meath in the the podcast, he discusses his breakthrough into the Louth panel under Ger Brennan, the goalkeeping position under the new rules and that memorable Leinster final at Croke can download and listen to the GAA Social on BBC Sounds here.
Irish Independent
a day ago
- Sport
- Irish Independent
Meath should have too much experience and know-how for Tipperary
It will be Meath's third attempt to reach the semi-final since they defeated Galway on their way to back-to-back All-Ireland titles in 2022. With home advantage on both occasions Kerry defeated Meath at this quarter-final stage in 2023 and 2024. However, Meath will feel that they are now in a much healthier state to end that quarter-final losing streak. Securing home advantage should also be crucial after Meath topped Group 3 following a draw with last year's semi-finalists Armagh and a win over Kildare. Back in 2019, Tipperary defeated Meath 2-16 to 1-14 in the All-Ireland Intermediate Championship Final and there will be quite a few survivors from that team in Shane McCormack's line up on Sunday. Current captain Aoibhin Cleary, Vikki and Sarah Wall, Katie Newe, Emma Duggan, Megan Thynne and Shauna Ennis saw action that day and should involved again in this latest clash against the Premier County. The counties clashed in the group stages of the Senior Football Championship in 2021 where Meath enjoyed a 1-18 to 0-7 success in O'Moore Park, Portlaoise and then 12 months ago it ended 2-15 to 2-12 in favour of the hosts at Pairc Tailteann. Tipperary drew 1-6 apiece with Kerry in the final round of games in the Munster Championship but earlier defeats to both Waterford and Cork had already ended their hopes. In Group One of the All-Ireland series Tipperary lost to Galway 1-13 to 0-7 before securing the place in the knockout stages following a 0-11 to 1-6 win over Donegal. Aisling Moloney is still a pivotal figure for Tipperary while Anna Rose Kennedy is also a top class performer for the Munster side. Meath have shown mixed form so far throughout the year in league and championship. They produced one of their better displays in the Leinster final against Dublin and their lack of experience in certain areas probably cost them. However, they took that form into the All-Ireland series forcing a draw at home to Armagh before securing their knockout spot with a win over Kildare. Despite the loss of so many regulars in the aftermath of the second All-Ireland win, Meath still possess two of the best players in the country in Emma Duggan and Vikki Wall. Aoibhin Cleary, Niamh Gallogly, Mary Kate Lynch, Megan Thynne and Katie Newe are all capable of performing at the top level while the return of Shauna Ennis following a lengthy layoff with injury has proved a boost. Home advantage is also a big plus at this stage of the competition and overall Meath should have too much experience and know-how at this level for a Tipperary side struggling to find consistency.
Irish Daily Mirror
a day ago
- Sport
- Irish Daily Mirror
Kerry produced 'some of their best ever football in Croker,' says Kingdom legend
Kerry's sharpshooters have been showered with praise by the best pundit in Gaelic football. Eamonn Fitzmaurice's name is synonymous with the Kingdom after his involvement in FIVE of their All-Ireland wins as a player, manager and selector. Now his job is to assess the tactical trends in football as the sport adjusts to new rules that were drawn up by Jim Gavin and his FRC committee, which Fitzmaurice sat on. Read more: David Clifford relationship with girlfriend Shauna, son Oigi and day job Read more: Armagh victory means 'absolutely nothing' unless we win Sam, says unsung Kerry hero Those rule changes have clearly benefited Kerry more than most as they were able to post 0-32 against Armagh on Sunday, dethroning the All-Ireland champs at the quarter-final stage. And that led to Fitzy making an incredible claim - suggesting Kerry's second-half display when they scored 14 unanswered points in a 15 minute spell - was the BEST he has ever seen from the 38-times All-Ireland champs. Fitzmaurice said: 'That 15-minute spell in the second half was breathtaking. In fact I would go so far as to say it was some of the best football any Kerry team has ever played in Croke Park. 'I was proud of the players and of the approach of the management team and the fact there were so many supporters there. They really rallied behind the team. The numbers who travelled up were incredible and it is not often that this happens in Kerry. 'It was great and you could see what it meant to the lads afterwards. The players then responded by delivering an amazing performance. 'The last couple of weeks have been good for them because it has brought out an edge in them. The trick now is to get back to those heights again which will be a challenge.' Few saw that 'edge' when they were comprehensively beaten by Meath in the group stages in Tullamore just over two weeks ago. But a swift response against Cavan preceded Sunday's demolition job on the reigning All-Ireland champs, a win which Fitzmaurice believes has galvanised the county. Speaking on the RTE GAA podcast, Fitzmaurice said: 'The journey back on Sunday had a feeling of a tribe coming back from a satisfying day out. There was a connection between the fans and the team.' It felt like the Kingdom had struck back. Fitzy said: 'I was not as down in the dumps as others about the Meath defeat because while it was not a vintage Kerry performance that day, you have to give Meath enormous credit for playing so outstandingly well. 'I had faith in them to do a job and when you are on a panel and are training all year long, you are seeking to get a chance. And lads such as Mark O'Shea, who only made his debut this summer, Evan Looney and Sean O'Brien took their chances. 'There comes a time in every player's career when you either do it or you don't. I would have had faith in those fellas doing a job. 'The Meath game turned up the heat down here. They were cranky and angry within the group. And that needed to come out.' It wasn't the only thing that came out in the post-match discussions with Kerry boss, Jack O'Connor, lashing out at the team's critics. "I was surprised because generally after a win like that, Jack is effusive," Fitzmaurice said. "I'd say on a human level he was hurt. I know he had a small bit of a nibble after the Cavan game last weekend, but he obviously decided this week that he was going to unleash the double barrel. "He had his say, and probably feels better for it today. 'It obviously hurt him otherwise he wouldn't have said it.' All of which leads to a reunion with Tyrone, the Ulster team who proved to be Kerry's bogey side during Fitzmaurice's playing days, when the 2003 All-Ireland semi-final and 2005 and 2008 All-Ireland deciders, ended in Mickey Harte's favour. Harte has since moved on but so has the rivalry. While Kerry defeated Tyrone in the 2012 and 2023 Championships, Fitzmaurice feels the 2021 All-Ireland semi-final win is more relevant to next weekend's latest instalment of a major rivalry. Fitzmaurice says: 'When I was managing, I always really enjoyed going against the Ulster teams because you were always going to be tested to the hilt, tactically as well as physically. 'The Kerry lads will draw on the 2021 game rather than the 2023 one. In 2023, Kerry really had a cause and Sean O'Shea led Kerry that day. In 2021, I feel a lot of players left a big opportunity behind them.' That is certainly the overriding emotion in Armagh right now following their second half meltdown on Saturday, a defeat analysed succinctly by Fitzmaurice's fellow RTE pundit, Lee Keegan. Yet the former Mayo ace still believes there is another All-Ireland within Armagh. He said: 'Rian O'Neill was a shadow of himself; the half back line never got into the game; Kerry had their homework done on them. 'The one thing about Armagh is their age profile is good. 'Kieran McGeeney has a lot to work with. Armagh still gave us the best games this year but they ran out of road against a very good Kerry team.'
