From the sideline to the front line
Former Kilkenny star and current Laois manager Brennan is back on the street beat as a garda and can see positives during this national emergency
EDDIE BRENNAN got a giggle out of the picture of Pádraic Maher posted online during the week. The six-time Tipperary All-Star was in a slightly different pose to the one hurling fans normally see. Instead of the blue and gold of Tipperary, he was decked out in his Garda uniform, photographed in community policing mode, bent over a boiler as he tried to get the heat working for an elderly couple.
‘I wouldn’t let him fix my wheelbarrow!’ says Brennan laughing, the pair having been involved on opposite sides on so many big days.
If Maher remains the swaggering half-back and Tipp totem, Brennan was one of the assassins in chief in a Kilkenny team that was arguably the greatest to grace the game, thwarted for a historic five-in-a-row in 2010 by Maher and company.
Right now, the pair are on the same side, fighting the same fight. From his regular job as a garda instructor, based at the Garda College in Templemore, Brennan has been redeployed back on the beat to meet the challenge posed by the coronavirus pandemic.
‘There are elderly people in the community who can tip down to the shop but now can’t. Especially in rural areas who might become isolated, it’s important to be there for these people.’
Like Maher, Brennan’s back on the beat on the streets of Waterford city. ‘Back out into the real world, as they say. It’s busy, even the few days I’ve put down here already. Last Friday night, there was just nothing happening. You’re going “wow!” In a city like here, to see it as quiet. There’s no licensed premises open, bars or restaurants – people are remaining indoors. So as a garda, you’re not engaging with Friday night revellers. It brings different challenges with a lockdown.
‘While there is new legislation, it’s not heavy-handed. If anything, this has thrown the guards right back to their function 30 and 40 years ago when it was helping out locals and really being one of the community.
‘We’ve always seen this with the GAA, An Garda Síochána, and any of the professions, people working together.’
The real credit though, he says, has to go to those working in the medical profession on the frontline. ‘While the gardai are out in the front line, it’s those in the hospitals, the medical centres and the nursing profession that are at the forefront of this. It’s up to everybody to come together.’
There is no doubt though that there is a lot of admiration for those working in frontline services right now, which isn’t always the case.
‘There is. What it has probably done is given us all a new-found respect for what other people do.
‘It’s an extraordinary situation. But work needs to be done. The job of An Garda Síochána, a lot of people think it entails arresting people and bringing them to court. I think this has brought one of the main pillars of that to the fore and that’s community engagement.
‘I’m not going to use something as serious as this as an eye-opener for us all but it has probably made us more aware, a little bit more neighbourly, in tune with looking out for people. If anything, that will be the positive that comes out of it.
‘More than ever, you realise the gravity of the situation. It’s unusual, walking around the streets and seeing them so quiet. It’s brought into focus the socialising side of things as well, the art of conversation. Being able to sit down with your family and have a chat. It’s different.’
Unfortunately, there will always be those who don’t respect the law, regardless of a lockdown.
‘There will always be a very minor element out there, that nothing prevents them from doing what they do. If anything, they might be looking to prey on people more.
‘The vast majority of people from what I’m seeing are keeping in line with what the HSE and Government are looking for off people. And we’re getting good cooperation. People realise the gravity of the situation. This has brought the world to a standstill really.’
The Virgin Media series Inside the K, has been a big ratings hit, giving viewers a real appreciation of the Gardai’s role in one of Dublin’s most demanding districts. Brennan says the unprecedented access has been groundbreaking.
‘I think a lot of people didn’t realise what goes on. It’s important to state that the vast majority in every corner of Ireland, be it urban, be it rural, are just honest-to-God good people who want to get on with their lives. They’re just coming from different circumstances.
‘I think it was really good that someone finally went no-holdsbarred with what life is like at the coalface because I think you can sometimes describe it to people but they don’t get a full flavour.
‘Maybe they become the norm – you can get conditioned to it – but I think it’s important to see the challenges being faced.
‘I worked in Tallaght, I worked in Portlaoise, I worked in Thurles and you see people in A & E units and they get that element coming in, when people are badly injured or whatever, and they more often than not are massive victims of that kind of stuff.’
Five years in the role of instructor, he admits there is no manual that covers the challenges posed by the coronavirus. ‘No, not really. When it comes to a national emergency or an emergency situation, the one that jumps out is a multiple vehicle emergency say on a motorway that involves multiple services and where there is major disruption.
‘There’s a plan in place for that, people have been trained for it, but for something like this, I don’t think anyone across all sectors, across all professions, I don’t think any of them would have done any training to prepare for something on this scale.’
Wartime is as close a parallel as there is.
‘The childish side of us all sees these films where the super hero comes along – the difference with this is that everybody has a chance to control what they’re doing, has it within their power to help out.
‘We always look for people to help. But this, more than ever, this has exceeded it in terms of demands. We’re saying to people, “You’re not being asked to do anything magical, only to stay at home and do the right thing”.
That can be difficult, depending on where you’re living. I’m lucky, I’ve green fields at home.’
After living in Laois for a spell, he moved home to Kilkenny and was still strutting his stuff, aged 40, when his club Graigue-Ballycallan won the Leinster IHC final in December 2018, the eight-time All-Ireland winner with his county showing his class by scoring 1-1 in that decider against Portlaoise.
His own time in Laois though played a part in him taking the plunge into senior inter-county management, a break-out first season in charge of Laois culminating in an All-Ireland quarter-final appearance against Maher’s Tipperary following a headline-grabbing knock-out defeat of Dublin.
Like every other manager and player, he has had to adjust to the waiting game that comes with a sporting lockdown, nobody any wiser about the shape of the summer ahead.
In some ways, this was set up to be Laois’ year, having finally joined the Leinster round-robin group by virtue of winning the Joe McDonagh
Cup last year. A further boost came with Congress removing the threat of relegation for a year with the prospect of a six-team Leinster in 2021.
The best-laid plans though are all at the mercy of the coronavirus right now.
‘While we had a couple of injuries, we were saying this is a great opportunity to get four Championship matches into lads, knowing that next year Laois were going to be in the Leinster Championship again.
‘So by the end of 2021, Laois were going to have eight Championship matches against the likes of Wexford, Kilkenny, Dublin and Galway. And Carlow or Westmeath and whoever came up. It would have been a great experience. But that’s gone and that’s the pity.’
He quickly comes back to the bigger picture.
‘This fantasy thing, “If I win the lotto I’d be home every day”. I think we’re finding out we all crave routine. Keeping busy is a good thing.
‘Same in a sporting context. So it’s forced us to rethink. For me, it’s not the problem aspect, it’s the opportunity aspect that I’d focus on. You have time now to maybe work on a weakness, whatever that is in life. Whether that’s upskilling with an online course or books or thinking, “What can I gain?”
‘In years to come we will be talking about 2020 and what we took from it.’