Tyrone GAA players talk resilience and leadership

TWO of the county’s most prominent gaelic footballers over the past decade have spoken about what resilience and leadership mean to them at a special GAA business breakfast.

Mattie Donnelly and Shannon Cunningham were among those who addressed ‘The Business of Winning’, held in association with the Bank of Ireland, at Canavan’s of Garvaghy.

Around 100 people from the business and community sectors locally were at the event organised by Club Tyrone, which helps fund gaelic games and culture in the county.

Trillick clubman, Mr Donnelly, said a series of serious injuries and becoming a father had helped him to adopt a different attitude to playing for the county.

“Leadership comes in many different forms,” he said. “The best leaders are the ones who lead by their actions, do what they say that they were going to do and you can ultimately follow.

“It always comes down to actions and how that shapes the people around them. That’s common to all forms of leadership.”

Shannon Cunningham said that leadership was something which didn’t always come naturally to people, whether on the playing field or in business.

“On the pitch, I always seemed to be the person talking to and directing people,” she said.

“Sometimes I feel that leadership comes in many different forms. I would respect a leader who talks sense as much as someone who says very little, but does all their talking through actions,” she said.

“Gemma Begley and Neamh Woods with Tyrone were people who were absolutely superb and didn’t have to do any talking at all. It was the same with my club (Errigal Ciaran), where Claire Canavan is our captain, but doesn’t say a lot, and then you see her play football so brilliantly.”

Mr Donnelly, who captained Tyrone to the 2018 All-Ireland Final and was on the team which won the Sam Maguire in 2021, said events such as becoming a father had changed his perspective on life.

“Resilience and events change your perspective and that is what you lead on at times to get through tough times to get through,” he added.

“When I sustain injuries, there’s no point in me putting the head down and feeling sorry for myself.

“I have had a fair few events in recent years where injuries have visited me.”

Shannon Cunningham spoke of how resilient she had to be to get back on the football field after having a baby. She said a lot of her return to playing depended on the support network around her.

“You can be resilient, but way more resilient if the support network is there and I’m very fortunate to have that at home, at work and with the teammates that I have,” she added.

“My perspective just totally changed. Every other year, going into a final was the most important thing.

“But if we lost now, my daughter is still at home and everything is fine.

“There is way less pressure on me now, and I’ve probably played better than ever.”

Other speakers at the event included Tyrone’s All-Ireland winning U-20 manager, Paul Devlin, Eamon McKay and Canice Nicholas.