‘How my passion for sport has prepared me for business’ – Eoin Conroy, IT Solutions Consultant

Q: What’s it like to be part of a team that brought your club into its first county SHC since 1984?

A. It’s pretty cool to be part of something so historic. The fact that my father was on that team, when he was the exact same age that I am now, adds to that even more. But sentiment is for after the game. No one cares about semi finalists. It all goes out the window if we don’t win the game.

Q: Did your family encourage you to first start playing with the club?

A. My family was obviously my biggest influence. I had my father driven mad to stay out pucking in the garden with me every night of the week. My grandfather would have talked to me about nothing else. Living right beside the hurling field in Gorey was another huge influence. I’d be in there watching any sort of game that was going. I just loved it.

Q: Experience of hurling at school surely moulded you too?

A. St Joseph’s N.S. was just incredible. We were encouraged to hurl and kick football at every opportunity and the work Podge Cronin and John O’Brien put into us was nothing short of outstanding. So much of the schools’ success needs to be attributed to them. Seánie Kinsella as a teacher was also massive. Everyone in Gorey knows from a young age about that man’s greatness.

Q: What made you put Commerce at UCD down as your first preference for college?

A. Commerce was just the natural choice from me. Business is what I was always most interested in from a young age. The BComm in UCD is extremely prestigious and I was absolutely delighted to have gotten myself in there.

Q: How do you balance hurling and working full-time as a solutions consultant?

A. The balance is pretty easy being based where I am. INNOVATE is essentially ‘a Dublin job in Gorey’. If INNOVATE weren’t there, I wouldn’t have found anything to suit me locally. I’d be based in Dublin like a lot of those who graduated with me. I landed on my feet.

Q: What makes you want to exceed expectations on the hurling field?

A.  To be honest, it’s this crew of lads. It’s very rare to find a panel full of players and management who are so tight and get on so well. We take the mick out of each other non stop and the dressing room is always the liveliest of places. Winning something big with these guys would be the ultimate; and that’s what drives me.