Mother reveals how Donal Óg’s father has struggled

By Jennifer Hough

Monday, October 26, 2009

IT is "very difficult" for thefather of Cork hurler Donal Óg Cusack to accept that his son is gay, the goalkeeper’s mother has admitted.

Bonnie Cusack has spoken out about her son’s revelations, saying she feels "very sorry" for her husband who was finding the situation tough to deal with.

Speaking on RTÉ’s Marian Finucane show, Ms Cusack said her husband Donal Snr, 66, did not find their son’s decision to go public easy to accept, but that both she and her husband fully supported Donal Óg.

She said her son’s courage was the "most important quality a man can have".

The GAA star revealed his sexual orientation in his autobiography, Come What May, details of which were published in a Sunday newspaper last week.

However, the Cork hurler first revealed his sexuality to his parents in 2005, when he flew home from South Africa after his family heard reports of his sexual orientation.

His mother said the family knew he was coming home to tell them that he was gay.

"We knew he was coming home to tell us and I felt very sorry for his father."

She said she tried to ease the situation by reminding Donal Snr she had been trying to tell him for years. Ms Cusack said she knew that her son was gay from when he was about 16.

"His father thought I was mad and would not hear it, but I thought it – there was no girls on the scene and it was a mother’s instinct."

Ms Cusack said she would wonder about men getting married, but "if it came down to it" she would attend her son’s wedding. "It is a fact of life and we have to get on with it. If it came down to it I would not have any problem going to it, we would do anything to support him."

But the hurler’s mother did admit feeling sad about the situation sometimes.

"When I meet parents of lads getting married and hear of them having children I would feel a bit sad. I think how great it would be for Donal Óg if he were married, but life was not meant to be that way for him."

Ms Cusack urged parents with gay children to be supportive and understanding as a lot of people who could not come out had "lived terrible lives over it".

She said her son hoped his story would give courage to other young people who might be afraid of coming out.

She said the family hadreceived hundreds of messages of support and thanked friends, family and neighbours.

This story appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Monday, October 26, 2009