Since moving to Monaghan in 1997, Robbie Healy has been an invaluable servant to hurling in the county. An inspirational force at club and county level, the Dublin native has also made a major impact on commercial life in the north east as store operations manager of the burgeoning shopping empire that is Flemings Department Store in Monaghan town. Robbie Healy doesn't believe in doing things by halves. Either on the playing field or in business… A regular with the Monaghan senior hurling team for the past seven years, the Dubliner is keenly looking forward to the 2005 season, when he will again be a prominent figure with both club (Monaghan Harps) and county. Monaghan failed to make a major impression in '04 (winning only one game out of six in Division Three of the national hurling league), but Robbie is convinced they can turn the corner in 2005, especially with so much young talent ready to burst through onto the intercounty stage. At club level, he captained Monaghan Harps last year and they reached the county final, only to lose to Castleblayney. Robbie reckons the Harps can fare even better next time around, with the county SHC a realistic target. The talented hurler has also made his mark on the commercial landscape of Monaghan, overseeing a massive development that has established Flemings Department Store in Monaghan town centre as one of the most attractive one-stop shopping centres in the north east. With up to 20 stores under one roof, catering for all needs, Flemings offers the complete shopping experience. With more stores due to open as we speak, this massive development continues unabated. Two-thousand-and-five promises to be a busy year on all fronts. Robbie is from Donaghmede originally and started his hurling career with the Trinity Gaels club in Dublin. He transferred to Monaghan Harps in '97 and captained the town side to a senior league and championship double in his first year. He has been a regular with Monaghan ever since. He featured on the county team once more in 2004. Monaghan were in Division 3B of the national hurling league, recording just a solitary win over neighbours Cavan (1-12 to 1-11 on February 29) and losing their outings against Tyrone, Fermanagh and Louth. In Series Two of the competition, the Oriel County lost to Longford and drew with Donegal in April, an unremarkable end to a disappointing campaign. Robbie recalls: "We didn't win anything. We had a mediocre league, where we didn't feature at all and suffered a disappointing defeat in the [Ulster junior hurling] championship. Down beat us by a couple of points at Clones in a game that we really could have won." It was Monaghan's biggest game of the year and the players were clearly disappointed to let the opportunity of victory over the Mourne men pass them by. John Andrews from Meath was over the team but has since moved on, to be replaced by Owen Conlon, who will be the fifth manager Robbie has played under at county level inside eight years! Reflecting on the 2004 campaign, Flemings' operations manager notes: "The year started brilliantly when John organised our first holiday, in Playa des Ingles. We met up with the Donegal footballers and the Cork ladies over there and we had a great time. After that, morale in the camp was good and expectations were high. "The last success we've had was the All-Ireland junior win in 1997. We also got to the final in 1998. Two years ago, we made it to a promotion play-off in the league, but lost to Mayo by a point with a place in Division 2B up for grabs. That's the extent of the success we've had so we were looking forward to doing something in 2004. "But things didn't go as we'd planned and you could say it was a disappointing year. The championship was a real kick in the teeth because we had the better of the play but didn't take our chances." Robbie believes Monaghan have what it takes to put the disappointment behind them. Looking forward to next year, he is hoping that the Farney men can mount a promotion challenge: "I think Monaghan are good enough to make an impression in Division 3B and we also have the new three-tier championship to look forward to. We've been doing well at U21 level and there are plenty of good young lads coming up, so we have every reason to be optimistic." While Monaghan might be more commonly associated with football, Robbie points out that there is a bit of a hurling revolution taking place in the county, with more and more young lads taking to the ancient game: "A lot of work is being done at underage level and I think we should reap the benefits of that at county level. Gerry Murphy has been doing a great job developing young talent in Castleblayney and Jim Dalton has also done outstanding work in Monaghan town. There aren't too many of us older lads left on the county team these days, but it's a very positive thing to see so many young lads taking to the game. "There are seven hurling clubs in the county now and there's a plethora of young lads on each of them. If things gel together, then Monaghan hurling could have a bright future." The four senior clubs (Monaghan Harps, Castleblayney Faughs, Clontibret and Carrickmacross Emmets) are joined by three others - Latton, Truagh and Inniskeen - in the reserve league. As mentioned previously, Robbie is store operations manager of Flemings Department Store - the biggest department store in Ireland outside Dublin. Comprising 80,000 sq. ft. of retail space, Flemings Department Store boasts the following units all under one roof: Super Valu; The Cellar (off licence); Connolly's chemist; Eason's; McQuaid opticians; Abrakebabra; The Bagel Factory; World of Wonder (toy store); Expert Electrical Superstore; a giftware department; Café 21; Pretty Woman (beauticians); Peter Aidan (hair studio); pram and nursery centre; The Body Shop; Treanor Security; McArdle Computers; Crazy Kids (playworld); House & Home. After Christmas, a 10,000 sq. ft. textile department will open, stocking all the leading names, including Diesel, Next etc. "It's all keeping trade in the town," Robbie notes. "We've invested €17m euro in the department store in the past two years and we believe we're providing the complete shopping experience." Looking forward to 2005, Robbie is also confident that it will be a decent year for Monaghan Harps: "We had a good year in 2004, reaching the county final. Myself and Pat Walsh were the only two players over 30. The rest of the lads are around the 21-23 mark, so we're in a good position. We'll go out and give it our best shot." Tweet

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