Erin inspired by fellow Donegal woman Barrett
THE number of visible role models has been highlighted as one of the reasons for the growth of women’s sport over the past few years and the development of Erin McLaughlin’s career seems to typify that. McLaughlin seems to be following the same pathway as fellow Donegal woman Amber Barrett, going to Maynooth University to study teaching and joining Peamount, for whom she played a key part in their league title last season. And the Hampden goalscoring hero has also been a mentor for McLaughlin in the senior squad, so she was delighted to see Barrett recalled for this international window. ‘When I first came into the squad in 2022, Amber was someone I looked up to a lot and she really looked out for me and made me very welcome. Any issues I had, I could go to Amber,’ McLaughlin explained from Ireland’s team base in Florence, where they play Italy in a friendly tomorrow evening. ‘I felt really comfortable around her. I think we obviously have that bond being from Donegal. She’s obviously someone I look up to a lot and having gone down the same pathway — Maynooth University as well as Peamount — it’s really good.’ McLaughlin is one of a few players from the domestic game in Eileen Gleeson’s first squad as permanent manager, but it is a tricky period for them as they are in the midst of preseason while the WSL and Championship players, as well as Barrett with Standard Liege in Belgium, are bang in the middle of their year. ‘It is definitely a tricky situation because obviously the other girls are in season at the moment and we’re only in preseason. We have two weeks of pre-season left, so it is tricky trying to manage that as well. I’ll probably be training more than the others because I am in pre-season,’ she said. A native of Culdaff at the top of the Inishowen Peninsula, McLaughlin’s parents had to bring her down to Strabane in Tyrone to find the nearest senior women’s team when she was a teenager. Sion Swifts, who helped nurture McLaughlin’s talent, announced last week that they were exiting the Premier League in Northern Ireland, a decision they ‘deeply regretted’. It was an illustration for all the strides made by the women’s game, there are still challenges. ‘I was really sad to see Sion pull out of the League. Obviously I was part of the club for two years — brilliant club, brilliant people — I think just maybe the funding wasn’t there in the end. I’m not too sure what has happened but it’s not nice to see. Hopefully in a few years they can build back up, they still have a great underage system and hopefully they can get the senior team back up and running soon.’ The demise of Sion Swifts proves that issues remain for the game, although McLaughlin’s success with Peamount shows that independent women’s clubs can thrive. In time to come, she may be a role model for the next generation.