Oisin delivers message of addiction support to Omagh students

FORMER All Star and Armagh legend Oisin McConville offered wise words of advice and support to the pupils of Sacred Heart College in Omagh last week, when he shared his experience of addiction.

During his visit, he told the group of Year 11 students that help is out there for anyone who needs it.

In an illustrious career, Oisin McConville, won a host of All Ireland and Ulster titles both with Armagh and his club Crossmaglen. He was venerated by the GAA community the length and breadth of the country. He appeared to have the world at his feet, but beneath the stardom and silverware, McConville was embroiled in a desperate battle with addiction.

Gambling had its claws in him and its shadow darkened his every step. But McConville fought back from addiction, at one point spending six months in rehab and eventually breaking free of its clutches.

With the explosion of online gambling in recent years, and the removal of the potentially head-clearing walk to the bookies, gambling addiction has unfortunately only become a more prescient problem.

McConville’s visit to the Sacred Heart was part of a taboo-busting war he has waged on addiction. He fights it daily in school and clubs, youth groups and workplaces, by sharing his story as a cautionary tale against the perils of gambling and addiction, and offering advice on how to deal with it.

Michael Gormley, the principal of Sacred Heart College, said the talk from the footballing great had given an invaluable insight to pupils.

“We were delighted to welcome Oisin McConville to Sacred Heart to present a talk to our Year 11 students on addiction. This talk was to support the teaching and learning of how to deal with addictions in modern society, a component of a unit delivered as part of the students’ Religious Studies qualification,” said Mr Gormley.

“Oisin spoke to the pupils about his own troubles with addiction and how it impacted so negatively upon his life, but also how with the realisation that he needed help, seeking that help and gaining that help, he turned his life around. After the talk the students, their teachers and Oisin were involved in a question and answer session followed up by group work.”

If you are struggling with gambling addiction, call GamCare on 0808 8020 133. Alternatively call Addiction NI’s Omagh office on 028 8283 9240.