Tributes paid to Conor Cusack as others urge men to share problems

Leading GAA stars have urged men not to bottle up their problems because of the profound effect it can have on mental health.

Cork senior footballer Eoin Cadogan, who is an ambassador for suicide crisis charity Pieta House, said men needed to realise that there was nothing wrong with “opening up”. His comments come in the wake of the tragic death last Wednesday of Galway senior hurler Niall Donoghue, days before his 23rd birthday.

Mr Cadogan said the public perception was often that intercounty players had it all, “playing for their county, something they’ve dreamed of since they were young fellas, and in the prime of their health”. But the reality was they had issues to deal with the same as everyone else.

“It’s not just something that’s confined to the intercounty scene, it’s men in general. We’re stubborn, we don’t like talking about our feelings and the more we bottle things up, the worse it gets in our own head,” he said.

Mr Cadogan’s comments echo those of Neil McDonagh, cousin of the deceased Galway hurler, who urged mourners at the funeral to “be brave enough to talk”.

Mr McDonagh said were his cousin alive, he would urge others with difficulties to talk to someone.

And in a moving, online blog this week, former Cork hurler Conor Cusack, brother of former Cork goalkeeper Dónal Óg, urged those suffering from depression to “take the first step”.

Mr Cusack, who wrote movingly of his battle with depression, said there was “no situation that is without hope, there is no person that can’t overcome their present difficulties”.

“For those that are suffering silently, there is help out there and you are definitely not alone. Everything you need to succeed is already within you and you have all the answers to your own issues. A good therapist will facilitate that process.

“My mother always says ‘a man’s courage is his greatest asset’. It is an act of courage and strength, not weakness, to admit you are struggling. It is an act of courage to seek help. It is an act of courage to face up to your problems,” he wrote.

Meanwhile, the body representing county players, the Gaelic Players Association (GPA), has been proactive in helping members under pressure. In addition to teaming up with Pieta House and Headstrong, the national centre for youth mental health, it has operated a national counselling service since 2010 and a confidential helpline since Christmas 2011, staffed by psychologists, among them clinical and counselling psychologist Niall Muldoon.

Dr Muldoon said he was “almost sure” the service had been contacted by players “from every county in the country”, both hurlers and footballers. He said the issues most affecting players who contacted them were addiction and depression, with depression encompassing everything from anxiety to “some people close to the edge”.

GPA chief executive Dessie Farrell has said they were “taken aback” at the level of player engagement with the counsellors.

Seán Potts, GPA head of communications, has written that while the counselling service was set up to encourage young men to talk, the GPA was “acutely aware that its membership is primarily made up of a demographic considered most at risk from suicide”.