Doc hopes Wexford ills are cured

THE benefits of the Fitzgibbon Cup in helping players to advance their careers at inter-county level may not be generally appreciated, but the evidence is there to show that it does.

For instance, while David O'Connor was a Wexford minor and under-21 hurler, he was a county senior footballer before he made the step-up in hurling. And he acknowledges that the profile he achieved during UCD's successful Fitzgibbon Cup run in early 2001 made it possible.

Recently conferred with a degree in engineering and food science, he is about to start out on one of the most important stages of his life in terms of seeking full-time employment.