Long serving Paddy Barrett deserves his hour of glory with the Limerick footballers Clare's victory over Kerry in the Munster final two years ago is still considered one of the shocks of modern football but Limerick almost achieved a similar feat a short while before that. Given no chance against the Kerrymen in the 1991 championship, the Limerickmen played with a passion and determination that almost caught their lofty opponents on the hop. "We matched them in all sectors and only a few lapses in concentration allowed Kerry in to score a few vital points. We gave away a couple of needless frees which Maurice Fitzgerald put over the bar. We pushed them to the end and could have won," recalls long serving Limerick midfielder Paddy Barrett. That near miss has provided Barrett with real optimism as Limerick prepare for another championship joust against the Kerrymen who are struggling to recreate the glory years. "In my opinion, we are in with a real chance. We have some good young players who will not be overawed by playing Kerry." Through a long inter county career that spans almost fifteen years, Barrett has known what it is to toil against all the odds with the footballing Shannonsiders. Each year the county is expected to bow out at the early stages with hopes of success resting with the hurlers. Tradition becomes as much an obstacle to overcome as the opposition. In an attempt to change the situation, Limerick brought in former Kerry full back John O'Keeffe as manager a couple of years ago and now the former All Star is in his second term at the helm. Paddy Barrett feels the arrival of O'Keeffe has made a big difference. "John is a great motivator and he does a lot of work in basic skills as well as getting the players very fit. He combines the two of them well. He is also good at organising training sessions and he demands that the players attend training sessions, which is important because it helps to build up team spirit and morale among the team. He was through it all himself as a player so he knows what is needed, what must be done to achieve success." These days Barrett lines out with Clonakilty in Cork, having moved to the deep south in the mid eighties when he took up a job as the quality insurance manager with Carbery Milk Products. Living and playing in Cork, Paddy has noted a considerable difference in the attitudes to football in both counties. "The big difference I found is there is much more interest in football in Cork, football is taken seriously where I am now. In Cork the county players prepare for big games months beforehand, whereas in Limerick preparation does not take as long." Brought up in Askeaton, Paddy Barrett played his underage football with the local team at a time when juvenile football was very strong at the club. He won a series of underage championships from under 14 to under 21 but the ultimate prize of an intercounty medal escaped him. Usually playing in midfield, Barrett showed he had plenty of talent, his promotion on to the senior county team became little more than a formality. While always honoured to pull on the green jersey, Paddy has not had much to celebrate on the intercounty front as Limerick usually played in the lower regions of the national league. Throughout his career, Barrett has sought to maintain a high level of fitness, something that has helped him to enjoy a long career. Now in his mid thirties, he is still playing at a time when most players have handed in their boots, but he feels that all too often too much is made of age when it comes to deciding when a player should or should not give up his career. The Askeaton native is one of those who believes the old saying 'if a player is good enough he is young enough.' "I have always tried to keep a steady level of fitness but when you look at people like Colm O'Rourke, Kevin Moran and Paul McGrath, you realise that a player's career is not over as soon as he crosses the thirty mark. I think one of the factors is that as a player gets older, his commitments get greater and the less time he has available, also the motivation might not be as great as it was. It is not just the physical side of things that may cause an experienced player to hang up his boots, there could be other factors involved." Married to Maria with four children, Margaret, Michelle, Maria Louise and Jack, Paddy has his own busy schedule but his enthusiasm for football remains undiminished. Although he has not won any major honours at inter county level, Barrett has enjoyed some memorable moments, winning a Railway Cup medal with Munster in the mid-eighties and chosen on the Irish Compromise Rule squad that travelled to Australia in 1990. "That was an unforgettable trip, they were a great bunch of lads who approached the whole trip very professionally. We went out there to win the series and we did. We won the first two tests but the whole trip was great," he recalls. The advent of the open draw has opened the door of opportunity for many of the so-called weaker counties. No longer are the Limericks, Clares and Tipperarys of this world considered as mere cannon fodder for the big guns. "The open draw definitely helped us because in the past we provided only warm up games for the likes of Kerry and Cork and it was very hard to break out of that. The draw is good for us because it gives us a chance to get as far as a Munster Final and that helps to create a bit of glamour and awareness for football in the county. The Munster Final is a big occasion and it helps to lift a team when one gets that far." As a Limerick player for many years, Barrett knows more than most, how much commitment, sacrifice and effort is needed to survive at inter county level and he feels a break is needed at some stage of the GAA calendar. "Many footballers are playing throughout the year. During the summer they may line out for the club and county and as soon as they are finished, the leagues start up again. Most sports have a close season but the GAA games continue all the year round. Players need a chance to recharge the batteries." This year Paddy missed out on Limerick's national league programme, giving him a chance to recover from a few niggling injuries. Now back to full fitness the Askeaton man is looking forward to a long hot summer with a few shocks thrown in . But even if he and his team mates fail to get one over on the Kerrymen, Barrett is optimistic about the long term future of Limerick football. "It is certainly a lot brighter than it was a few years ago. John O'Keeffe has brought in a good few young players and they are blending in well. In the league this year they were looking for new talent all the time. We defeated Waterford in the McGrath Cup and Clare then beat us by a point, so we have shown some fairly good form. What we would hope to do now is to get a settled team." Coming from a county more famous for its hurling, Paddy Barrett knows Limerick footballers have to contend with tradition in their quest for success, as well as the opposition. "Hurling and rugby take a lot of players away from football in Limerick. Both sports are very strong and the population of Limerick is not all that big, there is no gloss attached to football as opposed to rugby and hurling. To improve football in the county you need to put a big effort in at youth level but with the success Jack Charlton has had with the Irish team, a lot of youngsters now want to play soccer. The footballers need to achieve some success to create interest." Looking forward to this year's All-Ireland championship, Barrett feels the title could go northwards once again. "Derry could win it again, they have a very strong team but Meath are back with a good team and they could have a great chance. Cork will also be in there with a shout." Inspired by Clare's triumph in 1992, many of the so called weaker counties have renewed belief that they could be the next giant killers and Paddy Barrett is hoping this could be Limerick's year. Taken from Hogan Stand magazine 20th May 1994 Tweet

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