10 years on, Tony Dineen will never be forgotten

IT was Saturday, December 21 2013, a lovely dry and crisp morning as the sun shone over Ovens with Christmas just days away. I was back home from the Village as we call it, better known as Ballincollig, with the Christmas shopping finally completed. Everyone was in great spirits looking forward to the festive season.

Myself and the two brothers, Alan and Cian, were just after sitting down, watching Soccer AM on Sky Sports waiting for the soccer coverage to come on at 12 noon when both brothers' phones started ringing at exactly 11.45am. It was the O’Herlihy brothers, Andy and Dermot, family friends. So many people’s lives were about to change, Éire Óg stalwart Tony Dineen, great friends with my brothers, had passed away after a car crash in Youghal on the Saturday morning.

The community stood still, one of the most lovely, quiet, unassuming and friendly chap you could have ever met. It was total shock and sadness. He was 28 years old. A person who I would have known very well.

Tony was part of a very successful underage team that had won so much in both codes. In 1998, the U14 footballers won the Cork Féile na nGael competition beating a fancied Carrigaline side in the final with Tony a key cog in the machine. It was his age group that started the movement that helped Éire Óg into the club it is today, a top flight football outfit and a premier intermediate team in the small ball.

One of my earliest memories supporting Éire Óg was back in 2003 when the U21 hurlers beat a strong Inniscarra team, who also had Dripsey under their umbrella at the time, in the Muskerry final in Coachford where Tony lined out in defence as he played a huge role in the magnificent win. The year before, Tony was an integral figure on the Éire Óg minor football team that won the Mid-Cork league and championship trophies and the county title at A level.

Tony was plagued by injuries as he went into his twenties, but he was still firmly part of the fabric in Éire Óg, he loved the club. He was on the panel that won the Mid-Cork JAFC title in September 2008 and a month later the County JAFC trophy was claimed.

Tony was on the football panel that reached the 2012 IFC final, beaten by Castletownbere as well as being a regular starter on the intermediate hurling team. The season would end on a positive note when Éire Óg beat a strong Newmarket side, who were a top flight team, in the Division 3 football league final. It was around this time that a lot of Tony’s work was based in Waterford which meant he did a lot of travelling and his problems with his back were still an issue. Despite all of that, Tony made himself available for the 2013 campaign, but he had to depart midway through the season due to work commitments. Tony was in Páirc Uí Chaoimh cheering on the team in red and yellow at the 2013 IHC final, but Kanturk proved too strong on the day.

Hard to believe seven weeks after that county decider that Tony would be gone. On a personal level, it was a pleasure to have known him, he spent a lot of his childhood in my home place as he was around the same age as my eldest brother Alan, we only lived around the corner from his house.

I saw first-hand his dedication and commitment for Éire Óg when I was involved in the backroom team with the intermediate footballers in 2012 and intermediate hurlers in 2013. It was difficult for him towards the end with injuries, but he was the kind of guy that never sulked, he just put his head down and got on with it.

Today marks 10 years since Tony’s untimely passing. He really was one of the good guys and made a mark both on Éire Óg and his community in so many positive ways. His family are well known and well liked in the parish. It was fitting that Éire Óg won the 2014 IFC title and also that Tony’s good friend Dermot O’Herlihy was captain. The annual Poc Fada, which takes place on St Stephen’s Day from the famous Boreen to the clubhouse, has been named after Tony since 2014, with the winners lifting the Tony Dineen Perpetual Cup.

10 years on, Tony will never be forgotten. He’s always in our hearts.