INTERVIEW: Maroon and yellow runs deep in the O'Brien clan

For Norman O’Brien, football is more than a game, it's a way of life. A native of Kilmaine, he’s hugely passionate about the GAA and has become a central figure in Ballinrobe since moving to the town with his family in 2000. The O’Brien clan are deeply immersed in the club. Norman, a former Ballinrobe manager, is now the club’s coaching officer, while wife Elaine serves as secretary. Their sons, Evan and Conor, are also involved and are preparing for a big county final on Saturday as Ballinrobe take on Davitts in what promises to be an intriguing South Mayo derby.

The Kilmaine native explains: “There's huge work going on at underage, I'd say the last ten years really, since they started the Robe Rockets. There's been a lot of really good coaching officers in the club now. Since they went down to Intermediate in 2017, there's been a huge push to try and get the underage team up to a level where we can build a good first team again. I believe that the fruits of that are bearing fruit now with the lads being in the second county final in the last four years.”

​LOCAL KNOWLEDGE

Norman, who was manager of Annaghdown in Galway for the past three years is well familiar with Eoin Hughes’ Ballinrobe side. “Between the school and the club, I would've coached a lot of this Ballinrobe team, more so in the school where we did four years there and won the All Ireland in 2017. The majority of them would have been around that team and if not, they were on the 2013, 2014, 2015 2016 team when myself and David Colleran had the club’s senior team. David is in with the senior management team now, he’s been with these lads, I'd say, for the last 15 years. He's a massive mentor for the club.”

O’Brien also paid tribute to the superb work going on behind the scenes. “There's huge work going on there. Our minors this year were very competitive in the A Championship as were the U-16 team. We also won the Feile for the first time, at U-15 level, up in Derry. That was a massive milestone. Even with the girls teams, we had a really good U-14 team who did the league and championship double, which was huge. The development off the pitch is massive because it's a big project that the club have undertaken with a new pitch, a new astro and no more than every other club around, the facilities across South Mayo are going to be top class.”

​IN THE BLOOD

A man that has a huge wealth of knowledge regarding football in the province, O’Brien is particularly familiar with dealings in South Mayo. A few years ago, when he was manager of the Ballinrobe minor team, he got Mark Concannon, who is current Davitts manager, involved with the club and the pair have had a good relationship since. “Knowing the lads from working with them in the past, they're top guys over both teams. So I have a huge respect for them all. They'll leave no stone unturned either side I'm sure. The best team will win on the day.”

At underage level, Norman’s son Evan used to represent Kilmaine but Norman explains “that was stopped fairly quickly when he was going up against his national school friends. He's full of maroon and yellow blood now, the red and green blood has filtered out of him at this stage.”

This weekend will be a massive occasion for the wider South Mayo region according to O’Brien. “It's massive. Ballinrobe, Davitts and Garrymoore, it's a huge weekend. It's a big weekend for the younger age and for the kids. That's where the big excitement is for them, in the national schools.”

​LEADERS

Recently, O’Brien stepped down from his managerial role with Annaghdown. This season saw the team reach the last four in what was a positive achievement for the group with Galway star Damien Comer in their ranks.

Funnily enough, the Galway championship is on different weekends to the Mayo one, therefore, Norman sees his sons play for the Robesiders which comes with great pride. Also involved in the Annaghdown setup was Davitts and Mayo great Mickey Conroy as O’Brien reveals “Over the last month we haven't really spoken about the intermediate in Mayo. Nobody has given anything away.”

Norman who is a carpenter by trade owns local business OBH Kitchens and knows Eoin Hughes, the Ballinrobe manager well. “I was lucky enough to coach Eoin when I was managing The Neale. Himself and Pat Casey were leaders of the highest degree. As players, they were excellent at setting the standards.”

​MASSIVE BATTLE

Speaking about the game itself, O’Brien expects another close contest on Saturday. “There's a lot of really good players on both sides. I think whoever wins the most of the individual duels will come out on top and win the game in my opinion. I think it would be massive for Ballinrobe to win a county title.

It would be a great boost especially after we won the All-Ireland, everyone's on the crest of the wave. I think it's a massive opportunity for the club to go forward and take a huge step and get back up to the senior level and put the right structures in place to establish themselves at that level again.

It's all on Saturday. Davitts won't be giving it up too easily so it'll be a hell of a battle. Ballinrobe are well capable of doing it, but at the same time Davitts have a huge chance as well. They're a very proud club and there's always a massive fight in them. It'll be a real battle. No more than the Kilmeena game in 2023, I think it'll go right down to the wire.”