Actions really do speak louder than words for Brolly
But given what happened last week, the time has come for me to come clean. So, here it is dear readers, the skeleton in my cupboard is this: I am friendly with Joe Brolly.
Like I say, I normally don’t broadcast this fact. It’s not that I’m ashamed. It’s just that once you tell anyone that you know Joe Brolly, you are invariably put on the back foot.
‘Why did he write that? How could he say that about someone?’ What sort of a man would come out with that mouthful?’ The reason I don’t like defending Joe is because more often than not I agree with the complaint that is being made about him. Rather than being disloyal, I say nothing.
I also dislike criticising Joe because I know there is more to him than the figure who appears on our screens.
By donating a kidney to a man whom he barely knows, Joe has demonstrated the altruism that is all too familiar to anyone who knows him.
Hundreds of GAA clubs will be able to testify to his generosity. Besieged with requests to perform the role of guest speaker, compere or judge — he has spent countless Saturday nights in halls throughout the country. Unlike his court fees, all his GAA appearances are pro bono.
However, being generous with your time is one thing. Being generous with your organs is another thing entirely.
And while Joe is my friend, I have told him on several occasions that he is also my favourite case study.
Put simply, he is not normal.
For instance, if everyday happiness is measured on a scale of one to 10, most people are probably operating between five and six — neither that up, nor that down.
Joe wakes up and hits the ground running at eight. For the rest of the day, he’ll rarely dip below a seven. That’s what it feels like to live a life devoid of stress, anxiety, guilt, fear, or indecision.
Joe can’t really take any acclaim for his default mode. He was just born that way.
As a father of five children (Ruiari, Toirealach, Meabh, Joe and Niall), it can be difficult to fathom how Joe copes with his weekly schedule. A successful barrister, he writes two newspaper columns, coaches the St Brigid’s U10s and spends nearly every Sunday of the summer working as a pundit for RTÉ.
The answer to the puzzle of how he manages to fit everything in is called Emma McCann. While Joe is cracking jokes from a stage in some remote club in Tyrone, when he is pontificating on The Sunday Game, and when he’s dragging a bike over the Glenshane Pass, his extraordinary wife, a full-time solicitor, holds the fort. And while Joe is spending the next few weeks in London recuperating from his operation, Emma will keep the show running in Belfast. As you can imagine, looking after five Brolly offspring isn’t exactly easy.
But if anyone is curious about what really motivated Joe to donate a kidney to Shane Finnegan, the answer probably lies with Joe’s huge affection for children.
He dotes on children. He adores them. He also can’t cope with the idea of children suffering. Given that Joe’s daily work takes him into contact with people who are accused of some of the most heinous crimes, it’s perhaps another one of his multiple contradictions.
Last year, Joe’s cousin, Catherine Quinn, died after her body rejected a lung transplant. Joe has cited Catherine’s death as the reason he decided to donate a kidney.
When explaining his rationale, Joe pointed to Catherine’s three children, “It’s still very devastating when you see the damage that it causes and the pain it causes too, within the family.
“For young children… those children are so well looked after and all, but it’s very, very difficult.”
While Joe only met Shane Finnegan last year, the real connection lies with the two men’s children. Joe’s son, Toirealach, plays on the same team as Shane’s son, Pierce. His daughter, Meabh, is on the same team as Shane’s girl, Eve. To put it starkly, if Shane didn’t get a transplant, his days were numbered. The prospect of Shane’s children being left without their father would have disturbed Joe profoundly, particularly if he believed he could have prevented the worst outcome. That’s why he sidled up to Shane while they were coaching the U10s and said: “What’s this I hear — you need a kidney? I’ll give you a kidney.”
Only time will tell if the transplant was a success, but Joe will rest easy in the knowledge that he did what he could.
In the meantime, his selfless act has plunged huge swathes of the country into mass confusion.
How do you rail against a man who has just saved another man’s life? Thousands of angry Mayo fans have been facing that moral dilemma since last week. It’s a tricky one. Because it’s true, there are times when Joe goes overboard and his comments offend.
In those instances, which are bound to occur in the not too distant future, GAA supporters should continue to criticise, object, and complain to Joe’s editors and producers. He’s well fit for the abuse.
But while hitting back at Joe, they shouldn’t necessarily judge the Derry man on what he says or writes.
Actions always speak louder than words. And if Joe Brolly is to be judged by his deeds, his various opinions on footballers and county teams have now paled into insignificance.
