Carne’s Trevor helps Conor McGregor with his moves ]

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ACARNE artist who created a specially designed chess board for MMA superstar Conor McGregor has been inundated with similar commissions. Trevor Sweeney who is originally from Dublin but who has been living in Wexford for the past 17 years is a jiu jitsu teacher and marital arts practitioner as well as an artist. Trevor who trains at the SBG gym in Dublin where McGregor also trains was approached by someone to commission a specially designed work of art for Conor McGregor.

‘This guy wanted me to make some type of art for Conor and told me it could be anything. I thought about it for a while and because Conor used to be an apprentice plumber I wanted to incorporate that into the piece.

‘I played around with a few ideas and then decided to make a chess table complete with pieces out of plumbing pipe and stainless steel which I called the McBoard to symbolise how it was made for Conor.

‘I got the stainless steel laser cut in Kent’s Stainless and decided to go with an octagonal shape rather than the traditional square of a chess board because of the UFC connection. In UFC fighting the cage is in an octagonal shape.

‘All the pieces used were made from plumbing pipe and have vice grip marks on them. All the marks on them are left there on purpose as is the ionised red appearance which is there to represent blood.

‘The tiles of the chess board itself is a massive piece of stone which was handcut in Camolin in Stone Solutions. There is a mirror effect in this natural stone and that was to signify how Conor started at the bottom but the future was always bight.

‘The Edison light which shines on to the McBoard is there to show how Conor is always in the spotlight.

‘The two stools are either side of the McBoard have criss-crossed legs to support him indicating how the nation is supporting him. These are connected by a union connector.’

There are also two glass coaster set into the table, with the phase ‘When one of us goes to war we all go to war’ etched on one side and the phase ‘We’re not here to take part we’re here to take over’ on the other - both of which are synonymous with McGregor.

When Trevor had designed and made the McBoard he hand delivered it to the MMA star.

‘I went up to Conor’s house in the grounds of the K Club and set it up in his gym. He walked into the gym with Dee and Conor Junior and he was just totally blown away. He immediately got what all the symbolism was and what it all meant. There is a video of his reaction and you can really see how impressed he was by it.

‘He was really over the moon. He was delighted by it.’

Since Conor shared the unique McBoard on his Instagram, Trevor has been approached by a number of others who want their own specially commissioned McBoard with their own symbolism.

‘I was contacted by the US Marines who want me to make a McBoard for the Delaware 158th Infantry while another guy who runs a rally company wants one. Things have totally blown up for me since. My intention was to give something to Conor before the craziness of the Mayweather fight hype.’

Trevor who is also coached by Conor McGregor’s coach, John Kavanagh, in Dublin said that having moved into a new house in Carne in December he wanted to design a substantial piece of art and the McGregor commission proved the ideal opportunity.

‘From the time I was asked to commission it I started sketching out ideas and in total it took about seven months from start to finish. But now I have the design I could make it in a week,’

Trevor said that the McBoard, which is 600mm wide and 1,500mm in length, is deliberatly designed at that size so that the player who checkmates has to stand up to complete the move, symbolising them standing over their opponent.

While it is now taking pride of place in Conor McGregor’s house, the McBoard has a uniquely Wexford flavour. The plumbing pieces were sourced in DPL Wexford, Stone Solutions worked on the stone, while Kent Stainless did the steel work, including the laser cutting. The glasses to the side of the board are Waterford Crystal and are a part of the design.

The plumbing pieces on the board are galvanised gun barrel some of which was sprayed with red oxidised paint and ground down to look old before being lacquered.

The two phases, ‘When one of us goes to war we all go to war’ and ‘We’re not here to take part we’re here to take over’, are shown in red and blue depicting the red and blue corners in UFC. The slogans themselves were laser cut and placed over powder coated aluminium so that the colours can been seen through it.

Trevor said he has been working with steel for the past 16 years and has pieces in the K Club and other hotels as well doing a lot of private commissions.

‘I’ve done work for the president of SBG, Matt Thornton, who lives in America. When John (Kavanagh) was ten years with SBG he asked me to commission a piece for Matt so I made a Number 10 out of steel on a black belt and framed it.’

Trevor said that he hasn’t been able to put a price on the McBoard yet.

‘Even though I’ve been contacted by other people who want to commission one, I haven’t had a chance to price it yet.’

As well as the US Marines contacting him, Trevor said he has been contacted by an American footballer.

He said that Conor is a keen chess player and that when he delivered the board the two played a game together with Conor beating him. He said Conor’s dad is also a chess player.

Trevor says there is a lot of symbolism in his creation.

‘When I got the idea for the chess board I knew it was the right fit for Conor because he started as a pawn trying to make a name for himself, then he was defending his castle (title), and then as his fame grew he was like a knight. Then, as people looked to him spiritually, he was like the bishop, and now he is king of the MMA.’

He walked into the gym and was totally blown away. He immediately got all the symbolism.