Pascal Deering A Wicklow Star In The 50s, Knows That The Garden County Are Not That Far From The Big Breakthrough For six years in the fifties Pascal Deering played regularly for the Wicklow Senior football team. Then, as now, the Garden County did not feature highly in the betting stakes when it came to giving odds on who would win the All-Ireland. On occasions they threatened the big guns yet all too often flattered only to deceive. Time and again optimism died in the bitter cold winds of reality. There were days, however, when luck was the only thing missing and one of those afternoons came at the beginning of the 1954 Leinster Championships when Wicklow were painfully unfortunate not to defeat Meath who went on to claim Sam Maguire the following September. It is the match Pascal Deering recalls with mixed emotions. "The game stands out for me because it was one we really should have won. We were in the lead by three points at full time but the referee decided to play nine minutes overtime and they came back at us and ended up winning the game by a few points and they then went on to win the All-Ireland. We had a very good team in those days and it was a pity that we didn't do more". Forty years down the road Pascal's passion for Gaelic football- and sporty generally- has diminished little. Rarely has he missed a Championship game involving Wicklow and he is a member of the local G.A.A. club in Dunlavin where he also runs a thriving insurance firm- Deering Insurance Brokers and Consultants. Considering his background it is hardly surprising Pascal became a top class footballer. His father Mark, who was a Fine Gael T.D. for Wicklow and uncle Seamus' son Shay also represents his country at Senior level. Pascal's mother Rosaleen hailed from Newry and included among her nephews Mark Turley who captained Down in the seventies and she was also a cousin of P.J. McAlarney. As a youngster Pascal played underage football with Dunlavin as well as Naas C.B.S. "I played my first gaelic football game in June 1944 in Kilcullen. I was very young and I can remember going to the game in a sidecar". The bug had bitten and over the next few years' young Deering matured into a strong talented player who showed a rich view of promise. He was selected for the Wicklow Minors and in 1952 helped them to a Leinster final where they were defeated by Westmeath (3-14 to 3-3). It was the first time a Wicklow team had reached that stage of the competition. Pascal had played in the games leading up to the final but unfortunately the day before the Westmeath clash he injured himself and had to sit on the sidelines. "We did very well to get that far. I played in centerfield along with Tommy Hamilton who went on to play soccer for Ireland on a number of occasions. Westmeath had Frank Ivers at centerfield; he was also a very good player. It was unfortunate we didn't win because it would have given football in the country a big lift", he adds. Performances at Minor level earned the young Dunlavin a quick call up to the Wicklow Senior final. Despite his youth, he soon settled in at the higher grade. "I played for Wicklow from 1951 to '57 and enjoyed it. Although things were not nearly as well organised as they are now. Training would be fairly haphazard and the whole Wicklow team would only meet up occasionally but that was a situation caused mainly by geographical problems. In those days it was not so easy to travel about the mountains we have here in Wicklow didn't make things any easier. Often you wouldn't see the rest of the team until shortly before the game started, which of course wasn't the ideal situation but we made the most of it". While Pascal played his early football with Dunlavin he spent most of his days as a Senior with Vallymount. "I turned out for Dunlavin at juvenile and minor level but Vallymount was my club at the time. I also spent a while working in London where I played for the Shamrocks and there was a spell when I wasn't involved with any club". Pascal's relationship with Wicklow football was brought to and end when he decided to emigrate to Australia. "I was twenty five when I went to Australia and I stayed there for twelve years. We went there in 1959 and returned in 1971. I played cricket, rugby, hurling, Australian football, the whole lot when I was down there. We had a great life yet we were glad to return to Ireland. Our families were here and that's where we wanted to be". Soon after coming back he became a member of the Dunlavin club and has closely followed their fortunes since. "Over the past thirty years or so the club has come on by leaps and bounds. It is a very progressive outfit. There is a lot of good work being done at the club, especially at underage level and because of that the future prospects look very good. There are plenty of good young players around", he says. The 1992 All-Ireland B title apart Wicklow supporters have had relatively little to cheer about in recent times. The Dunlavin Insurance broker, however, believes football in the county is much stronger than results on the intercounty stage would suggest. "The success of teams such as Baltinglass and Blessington in the All-Ireland Club Championships has shown just how much good football is played in Wicklow. When you consider how they have done it is a bit of a mystery why the county team hasn't enjoyed more success. I think a lot has to do with the mental attitude of the players and the fact Wicklow simply don't have a tradition of winning titles, that must be a big disadvantage. It is a psychological burden the players bring with them into games. Even our neighbours Carlow have a Leinster title to their name, yet we still have to pick up our first one. It does make a difference to have a tradition of winning behind you", he adds. Having experienced Australian football at first hand Pascal feels the G.A.A. could use some aspects of the game to their own advantage. Australian Rules is a very exciting game to play and watch and one thing Gaelic football authorities should do is to take the Australian tackle and used it in our own game. The tackle as it stands is wide open to different interpretations by the referees. It is impossible for them in any case to stick by any hard and fast rule. Once a player is tackled he should have to release the ball immediately, that would solve it". The former Wicklow footballer would also like to see Gaelic players allowed to pick the ball straight off the ground and retains little enthusiasm for the recently introduced handpass rule. "The new handpass is not a success. It is difficult enough for referees as it stands without having to try and keep an eye on how many passes a player makes. Players should instead be allowed to express themselves and they should not be curtailed. I don't think it is a rule which works very well". One change Pascal was delighted to see introduced was the Open Draw which he feels should be extended to include the entire country. The old system, he feels made it very difficult if not im-possible, for the weaker counties to make the break-through. The freshness of the Open Draw brought a new awakening among counties once left with little hope. The well known insurance broker would even go further and introduce a League system in the Championship. For a start the League system would give each county at least three or four games. As it is teams are bring knocked out early in the Championship and they didn't have a game for four or five months. Every team can have a bad day and if they lose one match they can comeback and win the next", he asserts. Who are players Pascal admires the most? "For me the late Harry Fay had a few equals. He played for Dunlavin and Wicklow. I often lined out alongside him in the fifties and he was a great player who had everything. He also went on to appear for Kildare. Pascal and his wife Una are happy to be back living among the Wicklow Hills. They have a daughter Miriam and a son Mark and while Pascal is kept busy with his successful insurance company, he continues to keep in close contact with the game he graced with pride and no little flair for the blue and gold of his native county, back in the fifties. Taken from Hogan Stand magazine 13th January, 1995 Tweet

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