Anto Finnegan: Antrim has lost not just one of its finest Gaels. It has lost a wonderful person

Former Antrim footballer and charity campaigner Anto Finnegan passed away on Saturday aged 48 after an 11 year battle with Motor Neuron Disease.

Sun, 19 Sep, 2021 - 17:05

John Martin

Have a think about the people in your life who you’ve known for 30-plus years. About how many of those people can you genuinely say that you’ve not got one negative memory?

For me, Anto Finnegan is one of those people. And it’s not just me – I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone say a bad word about Anto.

I first met Anto around 1992 when we worked together at a community scheme in west Belfast. As part of the scheme we were offered the opportunity to spend three months volunteering at an orphanage in post-Ceauescu Romania. Myself and Anto shared a room at the disused ‘hotel’ which we called home for those 12 weeks.

He was a great roommate. He was a great conversationalist. Football and hurling took up much of the conversation but Anto could talk about anything. He loved a sing-song. He loved telling jokes.

Terrible jokes.

Did you hear about Val Doonican? He went up the stairs. He fell down again.

The orphanage project drew its volunteers from communities all over Belfast, men, women, young, not so young, Catholic, Protestant… about 35 in all. As the group ‘formed, stormed, normed and performed’ Anto emerged as one of the leaders, despite being one of the youngest.

The project involved the refurbishment of a rural orphanage. There were men and women of greater experience, skills and knowledge. There were of course designated leaders who organised the teams, tasks and tackled any problems. But as the weeks went in, a natural order was established - and Anto’s leadership and problem-solving skills were regularly called upon by those leaders. Anto was just 19.

Jim Gavin and Mickey Harte, alongside former Antrim footballer Anto Finnegan and his children Conall and Ava ahead of the 2017 All-Ireland SFC semi-final between Dublin and Tyrone at Croke Park. Picture: Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile

He didn’t come to the table with problems, he came with solutions. He had the respect of everyone and the affection of everyone. He had a wonderful skill of knowing what to say, when to say it, what tone to take, what tone not to take. He could calm a situation, he could enthuse, he could inspire, he could inject energy.

So it was no surprise that when the county came calling – when they inevitably would – Anto would emerge as the leader of that group too. He could just as easily have played for the Antrim hurlers too. In fact I always considered him to be a better hurler, but I think that it was just a case of the county football management calling him first.

He could possibly have had more big days out with the hurlers but he led his county to some success. It’s all relative of course, but for Antrim the All-Ireland B Championship win at a wet Casement Park was a significant milestone. I can still remember Anto’s beaming face leaving the field. His performance that day earned him the accolade of the Ulster GAA Writers’ Association Player of the Month Award – the first Antrim footballer to win the award. I was pleased that he valued the award enough to contact me a few years ago to ask if it was possible to get a replacement award (it was a Belleek vase) after the original got broken.

The following year at an equally wet Casement Park, he spearheaded the Saffrons’ first Ulster SFC win for 18 years against Down, followed a couple of weeks later by a draw against Derry when Anthony Tohill’s fingertips earned the Oak Leafers a replay.

My forever memory of Anto isn’t on the pitch though. It’s of a young man sleeping through a 5.0 earthquake. During our stay in Romania, there would often be minor earth tremors during which we would leave the building and muster in the carpark outside. During a relatively lengthy tremor, I noticed that Anto was nowhere to be seen. I ran back up to our room to find Anto oblivious to the shaking building around him.

That was him. That was Anto. Antrim has lost not just one of its finest Gaels. It has lost a wonderful person. A problem solver. Pragmatist. Leader. Joker. Inspirator.

Slán mo chara.

- John Martin is former sports editor of the Andersonstown News and Chairman of the Ulster GAA Writers’ Association.