I know one Kerry woman says woman says of me ‘that fella is after turning’ in much the same way as people would talk after someone left the priesthood years ago’

PAT SPILLANE wouldn’t be the only native of Templenoe broadcasting his thoughts at Croke Park on Sunday.

Just before 4pm, Paudie Palmer, a 15-year veteran of local radio, will don his headset and for 70 minutes be the eyes to ears of listeners across the world for the third championship installment of Cork v Kerry this season.

There, though, the similarities end. While the Sunday Game host does little to hide his Kerryness, Palmer, the footballing voice of Cork County Sound, admits that he would love to witness a victory by his adopted home.

“I have been living in this county for the past 25 years — the more mature half of my life — and I have always had a love affair with Gaelic football. I think anyone into football in Cork wants to see the profile raised. There is a perception out there that Gaelic football is the inferior game in Cork. And it shouldn’t be.”

But such thoughts about the state of Cork football aren’t Palmer’s sole reasons to go against the motherland.

“Since I getting involved 15 years ago, Jim Nolan has been my friend and co-commentator at matches all over the country.

“Jim is now a selector with Cork so obviously I will want to see him do well on Sunday. Over the years I have gotten to know the players, the older guys in particular and I have seen them suffer on some big days.

“In my heart of hearts, I would find it impossible to begrudge those guys a win and an All-Ireland title.”

But explaining this conversion to his family and friends is a difficult task.

“In local radio they don’t appreciate divided loyalties. I have two brothers — in Cork and Dublin — and it is beyond their comprehension that I would want Kerry beaten. I know one woman says of me ‘that fella is after turning’ in much the same way as people would talk after someone who left the priesthood years ago.

“I do know that people that are born and bred in Kerry have great difficulty understanding who and why I was carrying on at times.”

And it’s not just those from his native county who are bemused and confused.

“During the Kerry-Armagh game, I was shouting my head off for Kerry and I noticed fellas watching me. They found it hard to believe or accept that half an hour later I would be cheering on Cork from the bottom of my heart.”

Croke Park has not been a happy hunting ground for the Cork footballers — especially when Kerry are the opponents on All-Ireland semi-final day.

Four years ago, the Kingdom gave them a 3-19 to 2-7 hiding (after Cork had beaten them in a Munster semi-final replay). Twelve months ago the Rebels found themselves on the wrong end of a 1-19 to 0-9 scoreline.

Palmer had the displeasure of conveying the news to the thousands who tune in, not alone in Cork, but around the world via the internet.

“Last year in particular I felt as bad as most Cork supporters. You could feel for the listeners, you could feel people getting up and turning off their radios. It was a real, real downer. My big hope for Sunday is that you will have a real close game of football.

“When you work in local radio you are talking to a local audience. In my case that is the Cork audience. It is important to think that my audience is happy. I have my role to play. But ultimately it is all about Cork winning for them to be happy. It feeds back, if Cork are doing well, I, as a commentator for a Cork station, will feel good.”

Palmer again references the sense of community and togetherness which has shaped his affinity for a county he was raised to dislike in football terms.

“Alan Quirke is from the same parish as I am. I know him so I will relate to him more than say, Diarmuid Murphy. When we left Croke Park after the Donegal game, Michael Scanlon, our head of sport and I were walking outside Croke Park when the Cork team bus picked us up.

“I ended up sitting alongside Nicholas Murphy. A more unassuming gentleman you could not meet. So again, like with Jim, it is only natural that I want him to do well.”

Palmer’s role is not confined to the commentary box — and he does more than talk a good game. He has instigated much of the success enjoyed by St Brogan’s, Bandon in Vocational Schools competition. He was a selector on the Valley Rovers minor team that included a certain A Quirke on the team-sheet and was involved with divisional side Carrigdhoun which featured four players lining out in Croke Park on Sunday.

Despite all the new technologies, the pulling power of local radio, rurally in particular, is undiminished.

“When you are on it, you are taken for granted. It is only when you make a comment you might regret, or a mistake, you realise how many are listening.

“The best comment I heard was about my commentary on a guy that was playing for the Cork footballers. The story goes that his father listened to the radio and then watched the highlights on television. Word got back to me that he felt his son had played better on television that he had on the radio.

“But it is not just about the big days. I love doing local matches at local venues, to see the efforts and the pride of the people involved in these small clubs.

“We hear the stories about the monies raised for the pitches, for the lights, for the clubhouse. And then we are brought in for tea afterwards. There is a wonderful sense of belonging.”

And what of Spillane? “I am only able to talk football. He was able to play it. I judge him on what the locals think of him. They call him a sound man. And when you are chairman of the GAA club in rural Ireland there can be no greater compliment.”