Gaza deaths are something that hit deep, says Damien Comer

The Galway star was amongst the Irish athletes that signed a letter demanding a halt to the bombardment in Palestine. 

VALLEY ROVER: Galway footballer, Damien Comer at the launch of the 2024 Allianz Football League in Glendalough. Picture: INPHO/Dan Sheridan

As a teacher, Damien Comer is attuned to the vulnerability of children but his profession wasn’t the reason why he put his name to an open letter calling for a ceasefire in Palestine.

The Galway forward joined other GAA stars like Darragh O’Donovan, Seán Finn, Ashling Thompson and Karl O’Connell in signing the petition for Israel to immediately and permanently halt their bombardment of Gaza because he felt he had to do something.

“It’s very hard to watch when it’s popping up on your news feed or popping up in the news every day to throw a blind eye to it,” he says. “t’s hard to see on the different channels of what’s going on.

“What can we do that’s going to help? There’s very little individually one can do bar try and reach out and call for a ceasefire. It’s something that hits deep. We don’t realise how lucky we are that we’re able to just go about our normal business and do whatever we can when things like that are happening around the world. To see women and children subject to that bombardment is cruel, really.” 

Before their Division 1 game against Kerry last Saturday, Dublin’s All-Ireland winning senior ladies football team held a banner in Irish calling for a ceasefire. Comer said he was not aware of any plans for Galway or other men’s teams to do the same.

As trivial as he knows it is in the grand scheme of things, he is focusing on banking as much match fitness in Galway’s forthcoming Division 1 campaign. That was the plan last year too before he hurt his knee in Round 2 against Roscommon and wasn’t seen again until the final round win over Kerry when he appeared as a substitute.

A string of games followed until the second round of the Sam Maguire Cup group stages against Westmeath when hamstring issues meant he could only feature as a late substitute. He then missed the final round loss to Armagh. In the preliminary quarter-final against Mayo, he lasted a half.

He doesn’t want to be choosy about featuring in games but his body and Galway’s backroom team will be telling him to take a more à la carte approach this season. “I suppose some of the older lads and I’m nearly including myself in that now, you just have to be smarter. Playing every league game mightn’t be realistic from my point of view with my history of injuries but try and play as many as you can to get match sharpness.

“It’s not even games, it’s training as well – they can be as hard as games. Last year I was playing a game then missing a couple of trainings and missing a game or train once a week – that’s not ideal. You’re playing against lads who are training three times a week and playing a game at the weekend so you’re on a different level of sharpness to other lads. That’s not ideal.

“You just have to be on top of your recovery. I kind of went after a few different things personally myself this year trying to make my body as robust as possible for the schedule.” Comer didn’t divulge specifics but he mentions possible sources. 

“I'm an Arsenal fan. Even when I'm over in the Emirates I'd be watching soccer players and the way they warm up is completely different to the way GAA players warm up. I see GAA warm-ups as fairly intense, nearly match intense but then Premier League warm-ups are very calm.” 

Comer turned 30 earlier this month and the milestone, as much as he would like to think it isn’t significant, has made him ponder. “Probably the fact that you realise you haven’t as much time left as you think. I still feel like I’m in my early 20s – I think I’m going into my 11th season with Galway so it doesn’t be long going.” A first round date with Mayo would always appeal to Comer but Sunday’s game in Salthill presents an early chance to wash their 2023 championship exit at the hands of their neighbours there out of their hair.

“Something just didn't click with us,” is his summation of last season. “A lot of the younger lads stepped up during the league when injuries kicked in but we just didn't seem to get the balance right or we just didn't seem to click together as well as we probably did the year previous during the run to the All-Ireland.” 

Still, he doesn’t see much between the leading contenders. “I think last year there were a lot of teams around the same area. I don’t think there was any standout team for the All-Ireland and it was closer than people gave it credit for. It was a matter of a bit of luck and then probably finding form at the right time for a couple of those teams that helped them.”