IRISH INTERNATIONAL RULES goalkeeper Paddy O’Rourke has urged people in this country to ‘look after each other’ in the wake of the tragic death of Galway hurler Niall Donoghue.
O’Rourke will be between the posts for Ireland tomorrow night against Australia in Croke Park.
The Meath net minder works as a welfare officer in Dundalk IT and is involved in the ‘PleaseTalk’ campaign, which aims to alert third-level students in Ireland to the support services available to them in colleges.
“It’s an awful sad case and it’s going to hit the hurling team in Galway, his neighbours, his friends, his family. The main message behind ‘Please Talk’ is talking is a sign of strength, so we want to try and get that out there as much as possible.”
“Everyone has to get out there and look after each other. If it just means sitting down having a cup of tea with someone, or talking to someone that you don’t usually talk to, it could make a big difference.
“Nobody should ever feel isolated; especially somebody so young being lost this way is just terribly sad. One life lost is one too many.”
O’Rourke believes GAA players can be particularly vulnerable.
“We’re all human at the end of the day. When we pack our bags after training, we go home to family, we go home to friends, we go home to college – we’re just the same as everybody else.
“There’s different things can mount up on top of you. If you’re in college and you’re coming up to exam times, the pressure can get to you. Whether you’re trying to juggle training, trying to juggle exams, different things can weigh you down.
“You should always feel that there’s somebody there, one of your friends, one of your family members, that you can pick up the phone, that you can say ‘Look it, I want to have a chat’.
Students
O’Rourke admitted from his own experiences in Dundalk IT that he has witnessed problems emerge but praised the counseling services that are available.
“We’ve seen some elements of it alright, so far, but we’d have our own counselling service in the college in Dundalk and thankfully they’re absolutely brilliant. They’re there 24/7 for the students. No matter what time, day or night, they pick up the phone.
“We can refer them on to our counsellors within the college, and it’s just basically being there for each other and being there as a link person. That’s my role, being a link person, for the students, and getting them to the right resources as quickly as possible.”
Helplines:
- Samaritans 1850 60 90 90
- GPA counselling 1800 201 346
- Pieta House Head Office 01 6010000
