John 'The Joker' O’Shea is an inspiration for Cork darts players

THE Cork County Darts Leagues Association chairman Mark Keohane has paid tribute to John ‘The Joker’ O’Shea after he won a PDC tour card for the first time in his prestigious career.

The 2019 BDO World Masters champion qualified via the Q School Order of Merit following four days of action in Milton Keynes where he finished in ninth place in the UK and Ireland table.

The 46-year-old from the northside of Cork city has been on the amateur darts circuit for almost three decades and speaking to the Echo about his achievement, Keohane described O’Shea as an inspiration and believes he, along with Ciarán Teehan, have helped put Cork on the map in the darts world.

“Just on behalf of everyone at Cork County Darts Leagues Association, we would like to pay tribute to John O’Shea - formerly known as ‘Seboy’ and now ‘The Joker’’ - who is living in the northside of the city for what he has achieved over the last few weeks,” began the chairman.

He won a professional tour card and is following his dream to compete on the PDC Circuit, he is after securing a tour card now for two years which is a great achievement.

“He has been a great supporter of the organisation that we are involved with, the Cork County Darts Leagues Association.

“He supported us going back in May 2019 pre-Covid when we had a very big competition down in Midleton winning The Cork Masters that year before winning the World Masters in London a few months later, that was the first time an Irish darts player had won a major competition.

“That was excellent for Cork Darts, it was something that he was chasing for a long time and it was great to see him secure that win.

“That put Cork Darts furthermore on the map. But there are other great players in Cork, Ciarán Teehan is another well-known player, he would have played on the PDC for the last two years before he, unfortunately, lost his tour card recently mainly due to Covid inhibiting progress and travel over the last few years.

“He was playing on the challenge tour in the UK last week so himself and John O’Shea are huge players in Cork and both their achievements have really boosted the profile of the sport in Cork.

“Both of them are inspirations to the next generation of players in Cork, even though Ciarán is still only 22-years-old.

“It’s through John’s determination, his hard work and his passion for darts over the last 25 years or so that has led to him claiming this tour card and he deserves great credit.”