O'Kane Gary
March 10, 1995
Antrim's Gary O'Kane
NAME: Gary O'Kane
DATE OF BIRTH: 23/1/70
HEIGHT: 5ft 10"
WEIGHT: 12st 7lbs
CLUB: Dunloy Cuchulainns
COUNTY: Antrim
HONOURS: I have won every county medal from Under 12 up and two Ulster clubs. Also four Ulster Minor, Under 21 and Senior medals. This will be the first All-Ireland medal!
INTER-COUNTY DEBUT: That was against Tipperary in the National League in 1989
OCCUPATION: Joiner
TOUGHEST OPPONENT: Every opponent is tough but I suppose Nicholas English in the 1989 All-Ireland Final was my toughest one. He was at his peak then and I was only starting
FAVOURITE GROUNDS: Casement Park. I also like playing in Croke Park and hope to get used to doing so
FAVOURITE POSITION: Centre half back
SPORTING AMBITION: To win All-Ireland club and county medals but I'd be happy with a club one at the moment
OTHER SPORTING INTERESTS: I play a bit of soccer and gaelic football
BOYHOOD HEROES: I never paid any attention to that sort of thing really. The half backline on the Galway team of the eighties was fairly good though (Peter Finnerty, Tony Keady and Gerry McInerney)
FAVOURITE PLAYERS: I like Tony Keady and Gerry McInerney. I would hope someday to get to that level
BIGGEST INFLUENCE ON CAREER: The Dunloy underage coaches. The majority of the present day team has gone through their hands. Jim Nelson was also a help when I first joined the county set-up
GREGORY O'KANE IS YOUR NEPHEW, DESPITE BEING ONLY TWO YEARS YOUNGER. WHAT IS THE RELATIONSHIP? My brother Paddy is Gregory's father
YOUR BROTHERS HAVE DERRY CONNECTIONS WHICH A LOT OF PEOPLE OUTSIDE OF ANTRIM WOULDN'T KNOW ABOUT: That's right. My brother Barney was on the Ballinerin side which lost to Austin Stacks in the 1977 Al-Ireland Club Football Final (1-13 to 2-7). Two other brothers, John Eddie and Paddy were subs
THE HIGHPOINT OF YOUR CAREER TO DATE: Playing in the All-Ireland Final in 1989
THE LOW POINT: Getting beaten in that final by so much and also losing last year's semi-final when there was a real sense of optimism in the county. That was very disappointing
DUNLOY'S VICTORY OVER ATHENRY IN THE SEMI FINAL WAS A SURPRISE TO MOST PEOPLE. WERE YOU CONFIDENT? It was no surprise to us. I knew we had a good chance
WHO NEEDS TO PERFORM FOR DUNLOY IN THE FINAL? I will be happy with another team performance like the one we produced against Athenry. I would hope to step up my own performance all the same. It wasn't up to the standard I set myself. But a team performance will do fine
WHO ON THE BIRR TEAM NEEDS TO BE WATCHED? They are strong throughout. Obviously they have the likes of Brian Whelehan, the Pilkingtons (Johnny and Declan) and Daithi Regan. There are also the Cahills (Aiden and Gary). A lot of them have All-Ireland medals at Minor and Under 21 as well. They will be tough
FINALLY, WHAT ARE DUNLOY'S PROSPECTS? We will win it. It was a disappointment to lose to Glenmore in 1991. We had a young team then though with an average age of 22. That has stood to us now. We are much more experienced ... Birr are experienced too but we'll win
Taken from Hogan Stand magazine
10th March 1995
Vol 5 No 10
Most Read Stories
