Counting his blessings

Dermot Dooley has never really allowed himself to consider the thought, but under different circumstances he would be on the sideline in Nowlan Park this evening.

In guiding De La Salle College to back-to-back Harty and Croke Cups in 2007 and ’08, the Coolderry man and Derek McGrath were joined at the hip.

When McGrath was appointed to succeed Michael Ryan as Waterford manager last October he asked his work colleague and clubmate to become involved. Aside from their relationship, it made sense: nine of the team that started the first Munster quarter-final game against Cork in May played under their tutelage in the school.

Current Waterford corner back Noel Connors, De La Salle co-captain in ’08, remembers the deep impression Dooley made. “He’s a typical Offaly man, a very proud and honest individual who aspires to be the best and seeks the best. He demanded respect from the offset and people gave it to him because everybody could sense what he was really about, not just for hurling in the college but Waterford in general. He’d still be in contact with the majority of lads who played under him. I’ve never heard a bad word said about him and that says a lot. You can never keep everybody happy but Dermot is one of these individuals that you could say did it.”

Alas, McGrath’s invite to Dooley was more out of courtesy than anything else. He knew there was no chance his friend could accept it.

In 2010, Darragh Dooley came into this world. A lack of oxygen at birth led to severe cerebral palsy but Darragh’s conditions also extends to epilepsy, microcephaly, major learning difficulties and visual impairment.

He is unable to talk, his only means of communication with his parents, Dermot and Louise, and those who care for him at the Sacred Heart Centre where he spends his mornings being different cries.

They’re currently trying to teach him to alert them when he needs to go to the toilet.

For his seizures, he requires medication around the clock as well as constant physiotherapy, especially in the swimming pool, to keep his limbs stretched. It’s more than likely that he will never walk. The Dooley family have had to move to a larger house in Kilmeaden outside Waterford city to accommodate Darragh’s wheelchair and are currently in the process of putting together a room equipped for his needs.

“Our lives have been changed,” says Dooley, who says the Jack and Jill Foundation have been of great assistance too. “A lot of people wouldn’t realise. You don’t sleep much at night. We would be up every now and again for a few hours at night. It takes its toll. When we were away for a weekend in Tralee it was hard going because he is very sensitive and any noise in a restaurant would trigger him.

“We’d have music constantly blaring because he likes music. Our lives are centred around him and our little girl and we have another child on the way in August. It’s about keeping him happy and keeping him healthy.

“It opens you eyes and you realise there’s more to life than just making money. He’s getting bigger now and harder to pick up so I had to call a halt to my participation in the GAA regards going training three or four nights a week because it wasn’t fair on my wife lifting him up the whole time. We’ve kind of come to the realisation he’ll never walk but we’re not upset over it — we’re just getting on with it. We’re just trying to make his life as comfortable as possible.”

This week, Darragh was in hospital again with tonsillitis but the Dooleys are coping better than they were in 2010 when coming to terms with their lives being turned upside down.

Hurling at the time was more than a tonic for Dermot; being part of De La Salle’s Munster club SHC winning panel was an escape.

“We were going through a bad time with hospital appointments in Crumlin Hospital and getting prognosis after prognosis. The training was great, to get away from the reality of life because it wasn’t good. We realise this is our life and we’re going on with it but back then it was hard to take it in and there was a lot of anger and hurling was a great chance to release it and vent it in a positive way. The club were great and the GAA are good from that point of view. You saw it with Ken McGrath’s charity game. It’s a great organisation and great to be involved with a team. You can’t beat the camaraderie that goes with team sport, the competitiveness that’s involved.”

Dooley’s still helping out with hurling in the college but has, understandably, curtailed his workload. He’s also had to turn down a number of requests from clubs although he still plays some intermediate hurling.

Connors remembers him and McGrath as “creative and innovative” managers. The ball alley was painted with the words “Harty Cup ’07: Believe” before they claimed the title. Prior to that year’s Croke Cup final, they showed the players a DVD of their parents wishing them the best.

The following season, “B2B” (Back To Back) was sewn into the jerseys. Another video was captured with Waterford’s senior stars conveying encouraging messages to complete the double.

It was Dermot, a history and religious studies teacher, who picked up on San Francisco college teams using prayer as a motivational tool before games. De La Salle adopted their own: ‘St Jean-Baptise de la Salle, pray for us’ and ‘Live Jesus in our hearts — forever’. It worked a treat.

“Dermot and Derek were the modern coaches not just with Harty and Croke Cup but the way they thought outside the box,” recalls Connors. “They would look at doing small things for players they knew would raise their confidence levels. A lot of that has rubbed off around the county.

“Dermot’s played a pivotal role at what’s an extremely difficult time for teenagers. You’re at that stage where the drop off not just from GAA but sport is massive. About 75% of people just stop playing and not just for the people who made it at county level he brought so many along with the Harty teams. We had a massive panel and he was a central figure in all of it.”

Darragh’s care means Dooley won’t be in Nowlan Park but he does take some satisfaction from seeing so many progress from the college. “We’ve had loads of players who came through the school that didn’t win anything but still progressed to the senior county ranks. It’s great to see Derek there over them. As far back as 2008, there was talk of him taking over Waterford but he was still playing himself. The time is right for him now.”

It mightn’t be for Dooley but he has his own blessing.

* This year’s All-Ireland GAA Golf Challenge in Waterford Castle on September 12 and 13 (www.gaagolf.com) will raise funds for Darragh Dooley’s treatment in conjunction with The Freddie Farmer Foundation (www.freddiefarmerfoundation.org.uk).