Kilkenny get Hogan’s ministerial backing

Phil Hogan was 21 and playing for Tullaroan when he put up his hand one day to catch a ball.

Unfortunately for him, the other guy “decided I needed a sixth knuckle”, pulled early and did a job on Hogan’s left hand. That was the end of that for him on the hurling field. From there it was all downhill: politics, the Dáil and now Minister for the Environment. These days he leaves it to Tommy Walsh to fly the flag for Tullaroan.

Tommy Walsh. A neighbour of Phil Hogan’s, naturally, and “doing the parish proud” with Kilkenny this past decade; Hogan hurled with Walsh’s father Michael in national school.

But before Tommy Walsh ever came along there was Lory Meagher, the Prince of Hurlers and another neighbour at home in Tullaroan when Hogan was a boy. Hogan remembers Meagher well. “The stories, the folklore, the reverence. Lory was held not just in esteem but in awe. And as a man he was quiet and reserved, which only added to the mystique.”

Add in Hogan’s own family background — his father Tom hurled, refereed and was a Kilkenny selector while his uncle Jim won a Railway Cup medal with Leinster at right-corner back in 1954, the province’s first title in 13 years — and you get the picture. If he is a hurling fan, it’s because he couldn’t fail to be.

“In Tullaroan you’re born with a hurl in your hand,” he declares. “Usually in your right hand, for a more orthodox style.”

Hogan wasn’t a bad hurler himself, captaining the Tullaroan team that won the county U14 Roinn B title in 1974. Tall and well built, he had the physique for the position and also the mentality. “From centre-back you’re able to dictate the way the game flows. You can measure your clearances and seek out a teammate down the far end of the field who’ll do damage. It’s a pivotal position.” (Keen students of politics may wish to draw parallels, or otherwise, between Hogan’s style of hurling and his style of politics. Not us).

After his mishap, which allowed him to “bow out and concentrate on other things”, politics came to consume his life. But it never took him very far away from the GAA, he reflects.

“There’s always the county identity. Obviously that’s important in the GAA but it’s also important in politics. Ireland is a small country that recognises the importance the GAA makes in community life. Coming up to the latter stages of the championship, if your county are involved, you will have banter with other politicians.”

A local trade mission to China recently brought the minister into contact with the Shanghai Gaelic Football Club and opened his eyes to the extent to which the GAA has spread its wings all over the world.

Visiting dignitaries at Croke Park meanwhile, he adds, are always amazed at the speed and skill of hurling and at the way the players are able to protect themselves.

He’s cautiously optimistic about Sunday’s outcome, though slightly puzzled with one aspect of Kilkenny’s performance in the drawn game. “They seemed nervous, which is not what you’d expect from such an experienced team. Galway looked more at ease. There’s bound to be tired legs on the part of the older players, but Brian Cody has a tremendous knack of bringing in fresh blood every year. Every year there’s new motivation and new freshness and he brings them to new heights. Some Kilkenny supporters probably don’t yet realise just how good they’ve been and what household names they are around the country.”

Does he think Brian Cody would make a good politician? “He’d make a good poker player anyway,” Hogan responds with a grin.

“That’s an important ingredient in any good political strategist.”

Finally, who’s going to win on Sunday? “Kilkenny.” Naturally.