Ball-hopping go leor in Dingle as Dara Ó Cinnéide gears up for all-Ireland
A LOT of balls will be hopping on Irish language airwaves in the next fortnight, with former All-Ireland-winning captain Dara Ó Cinnéide, who broadcasts from the most westerly station in Europe, right in the thick of the action.
His day job is producer of the flagship An Saol ó Dheas programme on RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta, a daily magazine slot covering affairs in the Munster gaeltacht areas of Cork, Kerry and Waterford.
“They have a similar programme for Donegal, ‘Barrscéalta’, and I expect there will be plenty butting of horns and friendly banter between us coming up to the All-Ireland,’’ said Ó Cinnéide, 39, who is based in the station’s Baile na nGall studios, at the tip of the Dingle Peninsula.
Also an Irish Examiner sports columnist, he began his broadcasting career 15 years ago. He had studied chemistry at the University of Limerick and qualified as a primary teacher, but the call of home beckoned and he never taught.
“The late Páidí Ó Sé was manager of the Kerry (football) team at the time and he wanted all the Kerry players to be living in Kerry, so I came back to work with Raidió na Gaeltachta,’’ he recalled.
The holder of three All-Ireland medals and the 2004 captain — he is still remembered for his victory speech entirely in mellifluous Irish — he has been producing the award-winning An Saol ó Dheas programme for seven years, with Helen Ní Shé as presenter.
“The content is a mixed bag and unpredictable. Part of the attraction is that I might not know what we’ll have on tomorrow — it depends on what arises on a given day,’’ he explains.
“We try to localise national issues. At present, for instance, the changed commonage scheme on the hills concerns our farmer listeners. We also cover local events and issues and look for people with expertise in their own localities.’’
Renowned sports commentator Micheál Ó Muircheartaigh is a regular contributor on Mondays, with plenty of chat and opinions to offer about weekend matches.
Sometimes the entertaining Ó Muircheartaigh might tell a yarn about his experiences along the road and who he bumps into as he criss-crosses the country — all grist to the mill.
Few football followers, including Ó Cinnéide, expected Kerry, or Donegal for that matter, to reach the All-Ireland final, so who will win the All-Ireland?
“I’d be confident about Kerry,’’ he says, with a hint of caution.
“The graph is still rising for them; they’re improving with every game and I think they’ll get better and better. Very important, there’s a strong panel and subs who can make a key impact when they’re brought on. Competition for places is really keen and that’s good.
“I also have absolute faith in the management team. I know Eamon Fitzmaurice (manager) and Diarmuid Murphy (selector) very well and lived with both of them during my college years — great people on the line.’’
Ó Cinnéide, who lives in Baile na hAbha with his wife Jean and daughters Fiadh, 7, Ebha, 6, Rubi, 4, and Nell, 11 months, is passionate about the Irish language and football and trains the Gaeltacht under-21 side.
A man fully comfortable in his native place, he declares with conviction: “I wouldn’t live anywhere else. I’d never leave it.’’
Earlier this year, An Saol ó Dheas scooped prizes on the double at the Oireachtas Irish Language Media Awards, taking the laurels for best radio series and best radio presenter (Helen Ní Shé).
From Catharscuilbín on the Dingle Peninsula, Ms Ní Shé started working with Raidió na Gaeltachta in 1986 and took a career break in 2000.
She went to work with an international fashion company in New York and was in the city for 9/11, which was life-changing for her, and in 2007 she returned to Ireland and resumed working for RnaG.
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