O'Sullivan has confidence in Cork
September 16, 2010The countdown is underway to the first ever meeting of Cork and Down in the All-Ireland football final and like all Cork supporters, Joe O'Sullivan can hardly wait for the big day to arrive.
A senior contracts manager with the Pharmaceutical Division of John Sisk & Son, Joe played underage football with his native Castletownbere before settling in Ovens with his wife and young family after working in London for 10 years. He is heavily involved with the local Eire Og club which is represented on the Cork team by forwards Daniel Goulding and Ciaran Sheehan.
"We are very proud to have the two lads involved and hopefully they'll be bringing back the Sam Maguire Cup to Ovens next week," he says.
"This is Cork's third All-Ireland final since 2007 and everyone here is hoping it will a case of third time lucky. No one would begrudge them an All-Ireland after all the heartbreaks they've suffered in recent years. But you don't always get what you deserve and they're going to have to be at their best to beat Down who, as everybody knows, have an excellent record in All-Ireland finals."
Joe admits that Cork haven't hit the same heights as last year, but says no one will be complaining if they should end their 20-year wait for All-Ireland honours.
"They're not playing at last year's standard, but it's all about winning and you won't hear any complaints if they manage to win the final. While I have the height of respect for Conor Counihan and everything he has achieved as a player and manager, I wouldn't be a fan of the tactics he is employing this year. A little bit of flair wouldn't go amiss.
"I would love to see Cork win the All-Ireland with a bit of style, but I don't think it's going to happen. This Cork team is only interested in winning and I suppose you can't blame them after all the disappointments they've had. They haven't been playing well, they've ridden their luck in a lot of games, but I'm still convinced they will do it. There is far too much at stake for them to allow it to slip again."
Joe takes particular encouragement from Cork's strength of character, which was never more in evidence than in the closing stages of the All-Ireland semi-final against Dublin when they came from five points in arrears to win by one.
"You would have to admire the way they came against Dublin. They kept their heads when Dublin were losing theirs. They have great strength in depth also and you saw that when Nicholas Murphy, Colm O'Neill, Eoghan Cadogan and Derek Kavanagh all came on to making telling contributions against Dublin.
"The likes of Paddy Kelly and Paul Kerrigan have grown in stature this year and I think our two local lads, Daniel Goulding and Ciaran Sheehan, are also improving all the time."
O'Sullivan was surprised to see Down overcome Kildare in the All-Ireland semi-final and regards them as very dangerous opponents for the Rebels.
"Down are a strong and athletic team and have serious momentum behind them. Ideally, I'd like to see Cork meeting and beating Kerry in the final, but it's not to be and Cork now have a different challenge to look forward to. It would be great to see the likes of Graham Canty, Nicholas Murphy, Anthony Lynch and Alan Quirke win All-Ireland medals, but they're going to have to earn them against this Down team," he adds.
Joe left the West Cork fishing town of Castletownbere for Limerick as a young man where he studied at Thomond College. In 1987, he moved to the UK and began working for John Sisk & Son in London six years later. He has continued working for the company since returning to Ireland in 1997.
The John Sisk & Son Pharmaceutical (Pharma) Division provides deep sector expertise in areas such as procurement, engineering and construction management. Sisk's committed and customer-driven approach continues to create repeat business resulting in the company having delivered major projects in Ireland for 10 of the top 14 global pharmaceutical manufacturing companies.
Celebrating 150 years of excellence, John Sisk & Son holds the distinction of being Ireland's largest general contracting company with an annual turnover in excess of €1 billion. With offices in Dublin, Belfast, Cork, Galway, Limerick, Sligo and Waterford, the firm has completed major projects throughout Ireland for a wide range of clients across all sectors. Sisk has a proven track record in the construction industry and has worked with many of the world's leading companies. Whatever the form of procurement, Sisk believes in working with its clients and designers as members of a team focused on the successful delivery of every project.
Married to Helen McGonagle, who hails from Clonmellon in Co. Westmeath, Joe has four children - Daniel, Hannah, James and Katie. Daniel and James play for the Eire Og under 16 and under 11 teams respectively, while Hannah and Katie are camogie players with the club. Joe is currently coaching the Eire Og under 11 football and hurling teams, and the under 16 footballers.
Founded in 1928, Eire Og fields team in all grades of football, hurling, ladies football and camogie. In its first year in existence, Eire Og won the Cork SHC title and reached the final again in 1930. The club won the county JHC in 1962 and the county IHC in 1979. However, they returned to the intermediate grade in 1983.
The Ovens outfit won the county IHC again in 1985 and were county minor 'A' hurling champions in 1993. In recent years, Eire Og's football stock has risen with the club winning county minor 'A' football championships in 2002 and 2006, and a county JFC in 2008. At the time of writing, Eire Og had qualified for the county intermediate football quarter-final against Cill Na Martra.
"It's a good, progressive club which I am proud to be a part of," O'Sullivan concludes.
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