To thine own self be true, says gay Cusack

He began a national conversation when he opened up about his depression, and his latest revelation is unlikely to quell the debate.

Yesterday, on his blog, under the heading “To thine own self be true”, former Cork hurler Conor Cusack spoke about his sexuality and how he had known “for a good while now” he was “sexually attracted to men”.

His decision to open up comes on foot of the tidal wave of support he has enjoyed since publicly revealing his prolonged and life-threatening battle with depression last October.

He said he had “never denied anything about this part of my life because no one has ever asked me the question”, but he didn’t feel he could continue to be authentic when meeting people without being fully open and honest about all aspects of his life.

And so he went first to discuss it with his parents before revealing it on his blog. He’d had relationships with women, he said, and enjoyed them immensely, “but I’ve always had more fulfilment from being with a man”.

His sexuality had no bearing on his depression, he said, that he had “been comfortable with this area of my life”.

Conor, whose brother Donal Óg, former Cork senior goalkeeper, revealed he was gay in 2009, said he believed “nobody should have to talk publicly about matters to do with their mental health or with issues to do with their sexuality if they don’t want to”.

“I have chosen to do both. I have done so because I have a great love of people,” he said.