O’Leary’s hard exterior shrouded a gentler soul

Shortly after the closure of The Sunday Tribune, I was asked to contribute a couple of articles to a book celebrating the best of writing from the staff that were there to the end.

In my 10 years there, I sat down with hundreds of players and coaches but two stood out for their raw honesty.

One was Owen Mulligan from Tyrone; the other Noel O’Leary from Cork.