“Sitting in traffic is a lot worse than travelling on a motorway” – Keaney busts myth about Dubs

Niall McIntyre

There’s no traffic like Dublin city centre traffic.

It’s easy to say that Dublin lads have it easy. One of the number of shots taken at them is that they don’t have day jobs and that they’re in the gym, the pool and the sauna looking after themselves while all other county players slave over a building site.

It’s unclear where these stereotypes come from but when you’ve men like Sean Cavanagh claiming that the Dubs’ day to day lives are much more accommodating to inter-county than the others, that undoubtedly fuels the fire.

Because the Dubs do have normal jobs and a quick look at their football panel shows that they’ve to go to the same lengths as others to make it to the training pitches.

Steven Cluxton – Teacher.
Philly McMahon – Business.
Cian O’Sullivan – Tax Consultant PWC.
Michael Fitzsimons – Physiotherapist.
Jonny Cooper – Student recruitment, DCU.
John Small – Account officer, Digicom Office technology.
Eric Lowndes – Teacher.
Brian Fenton – Physiotherapist, Beaumount Hospital.

James McCarthy -Bank rep.
Ciarán Kilkenny – Student St Pat’s Drumcondra.
Con O’Callaghan – Student, UCD.
Jack McCaffrey – Student, UCD.
Paul Mannion – Digital innovation student, UCD.
Paddy Andrews – Dealer in stockbrokers.
Dean Rock – Leisure centre executive, Stewarts sports centre, Palmerstown.
Kevin McManamon – Sports psychology consultant.

When we accept over the fact that these boys have jobs, the next thing is that training is only on their doorstep anyway and they don’t have to face into that long, lonely, crippling commute back down the country before lacing their boots for a session.

For country folk who’ve fled the nest, the worst part about getting home for training is scaling the roads that run the length and breadth of this island to make it back just in time for a bollocking for being one minute late for your 7.00 training session.

The Dubs don’t have to do that. They have it handy sure.

But Dublin hurler Conal Keaney had the perfect retort to that point on Wednesday’s GAA Hour Hurling Show when he reasoned that while the men of the country’s capital don’t have to venture miles to make it down, they do have to sit in hours upon hours of rush hour traffic to make it out to DCU, Abbotstown or wherever else they’re training.

“Sometimes it’s quicker to get to Wexford than it is to get to one end of the M50 or one end of town to the other. We could be training at 7.00 and you’re still leaving the house at 5.00,” said the BallyBoden St Enda’s man.

“That’s nearly two hours and you might be there only a little bit early. Sitting in traffic is definitely a lot worse than travelling on a motorway. You could say it’s a little bit easier but it is still tough.”

There’s certainly no joy to be had in the streets of Dublin city on 5.00 of a Wednesday evening.

“It’s all about managing your time and how you’re going to do it. You do need to plan a little bit. When I was younger, you’d just go home from college and then you’d have an hour or two rest and then you’d go out training because you know your mam was going to have the dinner ready when you came home but when you get older you have to start planning a little bit more,” he concluded.

In fairness, the return trip might be a bit less time-consuming for the Dubs.

You can listen to Conal Keaney and Matthew O’Hanlon on their seasons, and their tips for the closing stages of the championship here.