Vinny Bell A Dublin Minor at 15 and a double All-Ireland Medal winner in 1954 How about this for a list of names? Jack Lynch, Liam Currams, Lar and Des Foley, Ray Cummins, Brian Murphy, Jimmy Barry-Murphy and Teddy McCarthy. All great exponents of hurling and football in years past and present. Another name which can be added to this illustrious lot is that of Dublin's Vinnie Bell. While he may be a nationally renowned figure, the former duel star's record at underage level is particularly impressive and this success at gaelic games has been mirrored in his business career. Vinnie played for the C.J. Kickhams club which became Na Fianna in 1955. "We won a few county Championships, the first of which came in 1968. There were a number of county players at the club besides myself, such as Donie Bolger, Bredan Morris, Joey Brennan, Gerry Guiden, Jimmy & Dinny Grey, Bill Casey, Tom O'Hanlon, Paddy King, Brendan Deigan (Cavan), Sean Ferritter (Donegal), Paddy Predergast (Mayo), Declan Bruen (Mayo), Brendan McLaughlin (Mayo) and now of course the clubs representative of the Dublin team is Dessie Farrell. Na Fianna are a strong club at the moment in football". Vinnie served as secretary of the club for three years. The former county stalwart names local mentor Sean O'Neill as the greatest influence on his career. This was when he was on the Metropolitan Minors. "In 1952 I was on the football and hurling Minor side at just 15, Westmeath beat us in the football in Mullingar while Tipperary hammered us in the All-Ireland hurling final. In '53 we defeated Meath but Louth beat us while once again Tipperary proved too good for us in the hurling final". 1954 was to prove to be a remarkable year for Vinnie Bell as he recounts. "The Minors won a remarkable double that year. "The football final was tremendous because we beat Kerry by a point having been five points down with seven minutes to go. In the hurling final we gained revenge on Tipperary after they had murdered us in '52 and '53. Jimmy Doyle was in goals that day". (Many's the hurler wishes he stayed there!). For the record, the scores in the two finals were Dublin 3-3, Kerry 1-8 and Dublin 2-7, Tipperary 2-3. Four other players beside Vinnie lined out on those Dublin sides. Aidan Kavanagh, Paddy Farnan, Mick Bohan and Timmy Bracken. The same year the Kickhams player was honoured by the Leinster Colleges in both codes. "We won the hurling but were defeated by Connacht in the football final. That was no disgrace as they had the likes of Mattie McDonagh playing for them". Subsequently Vinnie served his county well at Senior level. "It was mainly hurling I played with Dublin after that because the St.Vincents club were so strong that they supplied most of the football team and a lot of the subs as well. For example, the '53 Senior team was all St.Vincents players bar the keeper. Of the Minor side which won the All-Ireland in 1954, only Brendan McLoughlin and Paddy Farnan graduated full time to Senior Championship football. None of the others progressed. I played in O'Byrne Cup games alright and that was a much higher profile competition than it is now. "The hurling scene in the capital was very vibrant around this time and there were some top class hurlers around. The Faughs men, Tony Herbert and Jim Prior would have provided the backbone of the hurling side," relates Vinnie. "Kevin Heffernan hurled with Dublin, as did Willie Walsh and Con Murphy, who won All-Ireland medals with Kilkenny and Cork respectively. My greatest regret was missing out on the 1961 All-Ireland final. I had some great highlights however. I remember in 1956 we beat Cork when they were going for the League and I got Sportstar of the Week. That was a major highlight. We also drew with a star-studded Wexford side in a tournament game in 1955. All the Rackards were playing and in fact they had seven Leinster players lining out. That was a great result and a great surprise". Married to Joan and with two sons and three daughters who have given him six grandchildren, Vinnie Bell is a contented man. And why wouldn't he be having set up a flourishing business for himself. "In 1970 we founded the National Oil Company of Ireland and sold it in 1975 to Texaco. In '79 we set up Campus Oil which was totally Irish owned and Irish orientated. Avonmore and Waterford Co-Ops had shares as did PMPA. From 1981 to '89 I was Chairman of Dunloe House Group - that was sold to Clayform. At the moment I am Managing Director of Options Mono Ltd., which is involved in the refurbishing, buying and selling of properties. At the moment it's a mainly Dublin based operation, but we would hope to expand and look to becoming a more nationally based company". Vinnie mourns the dying out of the overhead and ground strokes in hurling. "There's too much short passing in hurling and football but it must be said that the players are much fitter today and you could see that with Offaly in the hurling All-Ireland this year. That was a great game. Unfortunately for Limerick they let it slip but it's very hard to come back from two goals scored quickly like that. While it's great for Offaly it could be disastrous for Limerick. They might never recover from that and it's very hard as it is to come out of Munster with Tipperary and Cork there". Of course, what is really making the waves in the capital at the moment is their football representatives in the All-Ireland final once again, in the search, which has so often proved heartbreaking, for a follow-up to the 1983 success. "They should have beaten Donegal on form but they were probably over-confident while there was only a kick of a ball in the Derry game. I think that you could possibly blame bad management for us not winning an All-Ireland since '83. The present set up is much better". "Dublin should be very hungry for victory this year", continues Vinnie. "This will be the last opportunity for a lot of the players, especially if they lose. Down are a great team and are very well balanced. They have an exciting set of forwards and are very strong all the way down the middle. "Niall Guiden is due a good game and I'd be looking to Dessie Farrell to build on his performance against Leitrim. Charlie Redmond will probably have to keep up his scoring rate but I think Dublin's hopes could rest with Vinnie Murphy's performance. To have him playing well is a big boost to the county. I believe that he has matured a lot and his club going Senior will have helped. In the 1992 All-Ireland he won something like 19 possessions but only got one score, as he was bottled up going for his own scores. Nowadays he passes the ball much more and brings others into the game". "At the end of the day", concludes Vinnie "it is a very close one to call. It's 50-50 but I am always hoping that Dublin will win and maybe it will happen this year. As I've said already, they have an All-Ireland in them and if they don't manage to defeat Down, they will go down as one of the great losers in the history of gaelic games". A tag which I'm sure Pat O'Neill's charges will be doing their damnedest not to be laboured with, come next Sunday evening. Written by the Hogan Stand Magazine 16th Sept 1994 Tweet

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