The man behind the wire

Corkman Bernard Spillane played a major part in the renovation of Fitzgerald Stadium in Kerry. And although they may be fierce rivals, he hopes his neighbours bring Sam back to the province on Sunday.

What a difference a year makes. Scarcely twelve months ago Cork were proudly displaying the Liam McCarthy Cup in schools and clubs throughout the county after Jimmy Barry Murphy’s young charges defied the odds and toppled Kilkenny on that wet September day in Croke Park.

As for the footballers, they were just one victory away from completing a second double in less than a decade when Meath, that irrepressible force, put an end to their dream. Still, one All-Ireland title and two Munster titles wasn’t a bad return for the year.

The county’s loyal gaels approached this season in confident mood, their hurlers were installed as favourites to put back-to-back titles together while Larry Tompkins welcomed stalwarts such as Stephen O’Brien, Aidan Dorgan and Colin Corkery back to his panel to give it more strength in depth in a bid to go that step further. Another glorious summer beckoned.

“I have to admit I was very confident about the hurlers’ chances,” remarks St Finbarrs clubman and Spillane Engineering employee Michael O’Sullivan. “Losing to Offaly didn’t even cross my mind, it was Kilkenny I was worried about. But it’s becoming increasingly harder for teams to successfully defend their All-Ireland titles these days. Everyone is out to get them. Complacency probably crept into it a bit too and they didn’t seem as motivated as Offaly. But they’re a young team and they’ll be back.”

Michael was thrilled to hear the news that his clubmate JBM has decided to remain at the helm for at least another year. “He’s the only man for the job. The players all love him and he’s been with most of them now since they were minors. No one commands the type of respect Jimmy Barry gets from the lads. He scaled the heights with them last year and I’m sure he’ll do it again in the near future.”

Bernard Spillane was equally as baffled to watch the footballers’ chances go down the drain in the opening 35 minutes against Kerry. “It’s inexplicable that a team can perform so poorly in the first half yet almost win the game. They left themselves too much of a mountain to climb although if they had played for the whole game like they did in the second half, I’m confident they would have won. Instead, we’ve to sit and watch Kerry preparing for an All-Ireland final when it could so easily have been us.”
Does Bernard think his neighbours and fierce rivals will capture Sam on Sunday? “I think they’ll edge it,” he says after a moment’s thought. “They have the benefit of those two hard games against Armagh which will surely stand to them. Both teams are very similar but I just feel that Kerry have a few more class players than Galway and that’ll tell on Sunday.”

With Cork exitting the championship prematurely, the club scene has risen in importance on Leeside. Spillane Engineering Manager Michael serves as Central Treasurer with the distinguished St Finbarrs club in Cork city but he reveals how they are failing to live up to those legendary teams of the past.

“We’re not the force we used to be,” he admits ruefully. “Back in the early ‘80s we were contesting county football finals every other year and even won All-Ireland club titles in 1980, ‘81 and ‘85. It’s hard to believe that we haven’t won a county title since 1985 although we contested, and lost, three consecutive finals afterwards. Football has been principally dominated by West Cork teams in the ‘90s.
“Our senior team this year is very young and it’ll probably be another few years before they mount a challenge for the senior title. We were unlucky somewhat to lose to Nemo Rangers in the quarter-final but the players will learn from the experience,” he insists.

The Barrs are also a major force on the hurling front having won All-Ireland club titles in 1975 and ‘78. Star names like Ger Cunningham and Jimmy Barry Murphy donned the club’s colours in the past though their last senior title arrived back in 1993.

Michael has been an employee of Spillane Engineering for the past 13 years. The company fabricate and erect security fencing and doors, as well as metal barriers, in the Munster region. It has secured a contract with the ESB to supply its sub-stations with heavy steel doors and fencing and has also worked with Cork County Council, Cork Corporation and the Office of Public Works.

Spillane Engineering was also responsible for erecting the crowd safety barriers in Fitzgerald Stadium in Killarney. Captain, coach and Chief Executive Bernard Spillane explains: “We got the job through the main contractors, JF Construction, when the stadium was being renovated back in 1997. We had to erect barriers to make for easy access to and from the ground while preventing crushing at games and we also put fencing right around the pitch. We are very proud of the work we did at Fitzgerald Stadium.

“Unfortunately though, we haven’t done much work with the GAA since. This is surprising because the job we did in Killarney was first class and we didn’t receive a single complaint afterwards. We’d like to renew our acquaintance with the Association and are willing to help and club or County Board who are looking for this type of work to be done to their grounds.”
It would be money well spent.