Riordan grabs his chance
August 09, 2010It's not technically correct to say there hasn't been any winners in the Limerick hurling dispute. The non-involvement of most of last year's squad has afforded other players the opportunity to wear the county jersey. One of them is Shaun Riordan, a former Cork minor, who plays his club hurling with Cork and Munster club champions Newtownshandrum.
Although born in Limerick and a native of Ballyagran, Riordan only qualified to play for the Shannonsiders this year. After coming on as a substitute against Offaly in the National League, he made his full debut against All-Ireland champions Kilkenny at the Gaelic Grounds in April, lining out at right half back in place of the injured Lorcan O'Dwyer.
It was a proud day for the 21-year-old who had always dreamed of following in his grandfather Mossie's footsteps by wearing the famed green and white jersey. Mossie, who passed away in 2008, won an All-Ireland medal with the Limerick junior team which defeated London in the 1957 final, and played for many years with the Bruree club.
Shaun's other grandfather Paddy Delee, who originally hailed from Broadford, also played his hurling with Newtownshandrum, with who he won a county intermediate championship medal in 1953, while his uncle Dan Riordan was a prominent member of the Newtown teams that won a county intermediate championship in 1996 and county senior championships in 2002 and '03 as well as an All-Ireland club championship in 2004.
"It was always my ambition to play for Limerick, even though I played minor for Cork in 2006," he says.
"I've been following Limerick since 1994 when they lost the All-Ireland final to Offaly in heartbreaking circumstances. My father, Maurice, used to bring me to all the matches and I always dreamed of emulating the likes of Ciaran Carey, Mike Houlihan, Dave Clarke and Gary Kirby as well as my grandfather.
"So when I was finally able to play for my home county of Limerick, I was able to go for the trials and I was lucky enough to make the panel. With the way things are in Limerick at the moment, the opportunity is there for new players to put themselves on the map and that's what I'm trying to do."
Shaun has been playing his club hurling with Newtownshandrum since his juvenile days when his family moved there to live. As he currently resides in Newtownshandrum, he is eligible by declaration to play for Limerick by virtue of being born there.
"You would think it was straightforward, but it turned out to be a long and tedious process. The transfer finally went through this year, so I'm now eligible to play for Limerick and play for Newtown at the same time. My family moved from Ballyagran to Newtown when I was younger and that's how I came to play for them."
Despite enduring a disastrous National League campaign which culminated in a 31-point mauling by Dublin and relegation to Division 2, Shaun claims Limerick are "heading in the right direction".
"I thought we did alright in the circumstances. We had just six survivors from last year's panel, so we were obviously lacking in experience. But I thought we gave a good account of ourselves, especially in the games against Galway, Offaly and Kilkenny. We were very unlucky not to beat Offaly and led Galway for a long time in Kilmallock," he says.
"In the last round against Dublin, everything went wrong for us and they just seemed to get a run on us. We are not as bad as we looked that day. This team is on a learning curve, it's improving every day and I've no doubt that we are heading in the right direction."
Riordan insists the players have managed to maintain their focus, despite Limerick's off-field problems. He is also fulsome in his praise of embattled manager Justin McCarthy who, he claims, has improved him as a hurler.
"We haven't been distracted really, we're just getting on with things and are totally focused on the job in hand which is the Munster championship semi-final against Cork on June 20. We're just grateful to be given the chance to play for our county and to test ourselves against the best.
"While Justin McCarthy has his critics, I can't say a bad word about him. He has brought me on a lot as a hurler and I can see the benefits at club level. Playing Cork will be a huge step-up, but once the ball is thrown in we will get on with it and hopefully give a good account of ourselves."
Shaun won a Munster minor championship medal with the Rebels in 2006, only to suffer disappointment in the All-Ireland semi-final against Galway. In the same year, his father Maurice was a selector with the Newtownshandrum team which lost the All-Ireland club final to Portumna.
With just 800 people in the parish and no real hurling tradition, Newtown's achievements since the turn of the millennium have been nothing short of astounding. A junior club for much of their history, the North Cork outfit's fortunes began to change in 1996 when they won the county intermediate championship. Two years later, they won the first of three successive under 21 titles and then came a major breakthrough in 2000 when they defeated Erin's Own to capture their first senior championship.
After losing the 2002 county final to Blackrock, they exacted sweet revenge on the Rockies in the 2003 decider before going on to comfortably account for Dunloy of Antrim in the All-Ireland club final. Cloyne ended their reign as county and All-Ireland champions in 2004, but they bounced back to win their third county title at Cloyne's expense in 2005 before going on to contest their second All-Ireland club final.
After a few years out of the limelight, Newtown bounced back to hammer holders Sarsfields in last year's Sean Og Murphy Cup decider before beating Thurles Sarsfields, Adare and Ballygunner en route to their third Munster club championship success. However, their dreams of reaching another All-Ireland final were dashed by Ballyhale Shamrocks at the penultimate stage.
"Newtown is a great club to play for and I've learned an awful lot from playing alongside the likes of Ben and Jerry O'Connor, Pat Mulcahy and Cathal Naughton. We were completely written off within Cork last year with people saying we were a spent force, but we turned around and won both the county and Munster championships," Shaun fondly remembers.
Shaun works as a sales consultant in his father and business partner Denis Ryan's company, Ryan and Riordan Insurances, which has offices in Pallasgreen and Charleville. Maurice and Denis founded the company six years ago after meeting during their time working for Friend's First.
Like Maurice, Denis is a staunch GAA supporter, being chairman of the Pallasgreen club. Ryan and Riordan Insurances are the current sponsors of the East Limerick hurling and football championships.
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