Athletics Ireland

Or is it all done, you know, do you all, and you and your family sort of have to do it all yourself through the local club?

Um, well, I guess I would've got, uh, support from, uh, Athletics Ireland, Sport Ireland-

Mm

... um, kind of around 2013 or '14, I think.

Do you get much, do you get much interaction with what I suppose people would call the elite athletes? You know, the Mark Englishes, the, you know, the top male, the top female runners.

Do you get any emails from them, contacts with them, you know, queries on their, their point status? Like, do you get a sense that this has been, you know, frequently or heavily used by them and or Athletics Ireland, for example?

Probably not the top ones, mostly because they have the...

They're on top of their

Wow.

And I visited primary schools on the way, promoting and celebrating the Daily Mile that I, I do for Athletics Ireland.

Yes.

So, um, that was a great... 'Cause, um, I started it out on my birthday, the 1st of June.

He walked to Dublin wearing hobnail boots, and, uh, he went to visit, uh, George Russell, the great writer, uh, who was, who encouraged him to continue writing, and that he could be great.

And that's the reason I have that link with Patrick Kavanagh.

And then I had a great link with Dan Hoolihan, uh, who was a, you know, he was greatly influenced by Kavanagh, and I s- I, I found another event with Athletics Ireland called Remembrance Run in Dublin.

Mm.

So, it's about doing a little, a lot, and I talk to them about gratitude, kindness, and friendship, and they're the, the kind of messages that I want to get across.

So I, I promote the Daily Mile in all the n- primary schools around Ireland for, uh, Athletics Ireland, so it's a g- it's a good message.

I think the children need that kind of message, an uplifting as well, you know?

Did any of the children try to talk you out of it, Frank, and say, "No, you're too old"?

Yeah, the, the grief, and that's the price of love, as they say.

Uh, have you met some-

And I, I've been blessed, like, that I came with that idea to Athletics Ireland 15 years ago, and, you know, the, people might have thought it was a bit daft at the time, but they, they had showed a bit of faith in me.

And now we have about 4,000 or 5,000 people up there on the-

Mm.

He's an athlete, coach, commentator, international team manager, former chair of High Performance, and now deputy president of Athletics Ireland.

We'll talk about managing Ireland's next generation, why Louth, in particular, keeps producing talent, the rise of Kate O'Connor, the realities of high performance athletics, and what happens when the sport becomes a bit of a family affair too.

Fintan knows Irish athletics from just about every angle, so there's plenty to get into, and this is The Final Split with Fintan Reilly.

Absolutely.

So we'll get into that later on.

But before we get anywhere near Athletics Ireland, take us right back.

You were a juvenile athlete with Redeemer and Mount Pleasant.

I think they probably don't-

... maybe Athletics Ireland members are like 130 quid for a national championship's like very expensive now.

And like-

Very expensive, yeah

So like for me, if it's, if you're entering a national championship, I honestly think it should be down to 100 euros.

Um-

Athletics Ireland members should get a bit of a discount maybe.

Yes.