Old Wasp makes a big buzz in ‘gaylic’ circles

I WOULD like to express my thanks to Donal Óg Cusack following his recent revelations. I am a 45-year-old Englishman living in west Cork. From the age of 14 I knew I was “different”.

I went to a rugby playing school and immersed myself in all things “manly”. I played rugby for my local club and ended my playing days at Wasps, before they became fashionable.

My father was a keen rugby fan and came to all my matches. After the games he would beam with pride and secretly enjoy my getting drunk with the lads.

For the best part of 15 years I hid my secret behind a veneer of rugby, beer and womanising and while my father would grunt his disapproval of some of my exploits in front of my mother, I knew he quite liked having a “proper man” as a son. I was able to hide my secret from them when I met and married a good Catholic Irish girl and moved to west Cork where no one would know me. My father became a Munster fan and we would chat about matches over the phone.

Now, thanks to Donal Óg, I no longer have to live a lie. Last weekend I travelled to Britain emboldened by Donal Óg’s “spirit” to talk to my parents. I took with me something I bought when I was aged 14 and have kept hidden for more than 30 years — a hurley.

It was a difficult confrontation, but at last I could share my secret with the two people I love most in the world.

So now it’s over. Done. Finished.

But I’ll never forget the pain in my father’s eyes as I uttered those three little words: “Dad”, I said, “I prefer GAA”.

Peter Warburton

Grove House

Skibbereen

Co Cork