Cian O’Sullivan would rather talk Brexit than Dublin’s drive for five

Experienced Dublin defender Cian O’Sullivan has insisted he doesn’t get into GAA ‘politics’ and trusts decision makers to make the right calls for the good of the game.

Last weekend’s Congress vote to reject Donegal’s proposal for Dublin to play just one of their Super 8s games at Croke Park has been heavily criticised.

Cian O’Sullivan speaking at the launch of AIG Dub Club Health at Parnell Park. The Heart Safety Roadshow is the first programme in the initiative that will provide training around CPR, choking, defibrillator/AED usage, storage and maintenance.

Former Kildare defender Andriú MacLochlainn said that if he was still playing “then what’s happening at the minute would force me to walk away”, arguing that it’s not a level playing field anymore.

O’Sullivan, attending an event for sponsors AIG yesterday, was the first Dublin player to speak publicly since Saturday’s decision and shrugged off the controversy.

“It’s not something that I’d busy myself with,” said the six-time All-Ireland winner.

As players, we have enough on our plates from a GAA perspective. I wouldn’t stray into the politics of the game at all. You have to trust that whoever is making those decisions, that the procedures are in place for the good of the game and for the good of everyone involved and that the right decisions are being made.

“From a players’ perspective, I think any one of the Dublin players would say that they’re happy to play wherever they’re told to play. That’s always been the case.

“Looking back on some of the games we’ve played in recent times, down in Tralee in the league and last year going up to Omagh, great games, so we’ve certainly no issues from a playing cohort and a management cohort to play games anywhere.”

Asked if he feels it’s an unfair advantage that Dublin get two games at Croke Park in the Super 8s, compared to just one for the other seven teams, O’Sullivan said he hasn’t thought about it.

“It’s not something I would reflect on,” he said. “It’s not something I would sit back and consider. For me, instinct kicks in whenever that ball is thrown in at midfield at the start of the game. You’re just playing on instinct and you kind of forget where you are and your surroundings.

There’s very few times in my career I can remember kind of snapping out of that rhythm or mode that you get into when you’re just playing the game. You kind of forget where you’re playing, it could be Croke Park or Parnell Park, it doesn’t really matter once that ball is thrown in. It’s two teams going at each other with two sets of posts and goals.

Boss Jim Gavin made a similar statement after last weekend’s Congress decision, claiming they’ll happily play in “O’Toole Park, Parnell Park or any other park for that matter”.

But it hasn’t stopped players and commentators from crying foul with ex-Donegal boss Jim McGuinness claiming when the controversy first erupted last summer that Dublin’s ‘legacy’ could be tarnished by the Croke Park issue.

“Again, thinking of the legacy that the team is creating is not something that (I do),” said O’Sullivan. “These are the distractions that, as players, if you start letting yourself get distracted by these things, and getting distracted by talk of five-in-a-row or legacy or whatever is being said outside the player group and management group, that’s dangerous territory to be stepping into and to be focusing on.”

But the issue will run and run, just like talk of Dublin’s five-in-a-row bid. O’Sullivan, a tax consultant, joked that when friends and colleagues talk to him about the five-in-a-row he typically turns the conversation to Brexit.

“People are going to say it to you and mention it to you, and nobody is coming from a bad place trying to talk to you about that and reference it,” said O’Sullivan. “It’s just a case of being able to tell yourself, ‘I don’t need to have that conversation’, or changing the topic to try to steer off it. It’s trying to tell yourself, ‘that’s a potential distraction there, auto-correct and focus on what’s important’.

“Right now what’s important to me is that we have training tonight and then we are playing a game against Roscommon on Sunday, a game in which we need to get another two points.”