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SPORT

Bringing Gaelic football to the Swedes

A book on Gaelic football in Sweden by Stockholm resident and Irishman Philip O'Connor has received award nominations in his home country. Speaking to The Local, he tells of his expat experience and his passion for this little-known sport.

Bringing Gaelic football to the Swedes

Since arriving in Sweden in 1999, Irishman Philip O’Connor has been busy as a journalist, writer, public relations consultant, and entrepreneur.

Along the way, he also helped found a Gaelic football club, the Stockholm Gaels.

O’Connor also wrote a book about the Stockholm Gaels entitled “A Parish Far From Home” which has been nominated for two awards back in Ireland.

Before heading off to Dublin for the November 17th awards ceremony, O’Connor spoke with The Local about his life in Sweden and how Gaelic football played a part in the transition.

TL: Can you briefly describe Gaelic football for the uninitiated.

PO:It’s like a combination of soccer and handball – tough and physical, well-suited to the Scandinavian mentality and taste.

TL: How and why did you come to Sweden?

PO: I moved here in 1999 with the girl who would later become my wife. She wanted to move home for “a year or two”…twelve years on I’m still here!

TL: What was the most challenging thing about the transition, professionally speaking?

PO:Ireland and Sweden are polar opposites – everything in Ireland seems to happen much quicker and with little regard for formalities, whereas in Sweden things are much more thorough. Every option is weighed up and examined before the best course of action is chosen. That for me was a massive issue, as I have no patience whatsoever.

TL: How long did it take you to feel like you have found your feet career wise?

PO: Anything from six months to ten years! I was working pretty soon after I arrived, but I only got to where I really wanted to be two years ago when I started my own communications company. That said, I’m glad it took so long because I now have a much broader network and understanding of how things work here.

TL: Did you ever expect when you arrived that you’d be doing what you are doing now?

PO:I hoped so, but you never know. I had done a lot of work in the PR end of the music business in Ireland and I ultimately wanted to work in communications, but qualifications are very important in Sweden, and even though I had the experience I didn’t have the papers. True to form, as soon as I got them things started moving and now I’m exactly where I want to be.

TL: How did the Stockholm Gaels come into being?

PO: Ever since I moved here I was desperate to play Gaelic football again, both for the social as well as the sporting aspects. After years of waiting for someone else to do it, I decided I’d have to do it myself. I quickly came into contact with Colin Courtney, who had the same idea, so we pooled our resources and went on from there. At our first training there was seven Irish guys and an Aussie- two years later we have around 50 players and a ladies team that consists of many Swedes who have recently started to play.

What makes Gaelic football so special for you?

It’s an essential part of my upbringing, where I come from it’s part of what defines you and your community and it has become the same thing in Stockholm.

TL: How did founding the Stockholm Gaels affect your experience in Sweden?

It has improved it immensely, and not just for me- my children (who are 7 and 5) now meet their Swedish-Irish friends much more regularly for starters. We’ve also done things in a very Swedish manner- completely by the book- and gotten a brilliant insight into how things work in the country as we went along. I’ve also been privileged to share the journey with an awful lot of really talented people too.

 

TL: How has being involved with the club added to your experience of being an expat Irishman in Sweden?

PO: It has given it a breadth and a depth I could never have imagined. I have always loved life in Sweden – I speak the language fluently, follow all the sports here and I could count the number of days I felt homesick on the fingers of one hand. But getting together with your countrymen and others, Swedes and non-Swedes, and building something like this just cannot be bettered. It also gives us something beautiful to pass on to our children.

TL: When did you first get the idea for your book?

PO: I think the story of the Irish abroad is particularly pertinent at the moment, as the economic situation there means that once again people are being forced to emigrate. Games like Gaelic football and hurling are a hugely important part of our culture and we try to take them with us wherever we go; that they now exist in places like Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö is a testament to that.

It’s also great to give Swedish people an insight into who we are as a community, even if we’re not that large; people have a lot of preconceptions about Ireland, but we have so much more to offer than whiskey and [Eurovision Song Contest finalists] Jedward.

TL: What was your reaction when you learned your book had been nominated for these awards?

PO: My book has been nominated for two awards- Sports Book of the Year at the Irish Book Awards, and the William Hill Prize for Best Irish Sports Book of 2011. For an unknown author to get nominated for these prizes with his first book is almost unheard of and I was absolutely elated. That said, Stockholm Gaels was built to win, and I really hope that I’ll be collecting the Sports Book of the Year Award on November 17th in Dublin.

TL: What’s next for you?

PO: I’ll be editing a new magazine and continuing to cover sports in Scandinavia for the Reuters news agency. I have a couple of novels on the go but at the moment I can’t find the time to finish either of them.

TL: What’s next for the Gaels?

PO: We’ve had another successful season. We defended our Scandinavian crown but we didn’t really do ourselves justice when we played in Europe. The guys from Malmö and Gothenburg will be raising their game next year to try to knock us off our perch, but our aim will be to win Scandinavia and then go on to show Europe that the best Gaelic footballers outside Ireland are based right here in Sweden.

I also want to introduce Gaelic football and hurling into schools here in Sweden, combining it with English classes and giving kids a chance to learn about Irish culture and maybe even travel there to play.

Legendary Irish broadcaster Micheál ó Muircheartaigh wrote in the foreword that he’d like to see the Stockholm Gaels play in Croke Park, an 82,000 seat arena that is home to the Gaelic Athletic Association, and no-one would love that more than me.

TL: What is your advice to other expats who are struggling to ‘find a home’ in Sweden?

PO: Learn the language as fast as you can, and get out and meet people, because they won’t come looking for you. We welcome everyone of all nationalities into the Gaels, but we don’t babysit anyone – we’ll help you as much as we can but in the end you will only really enjoy Sweden has to offer if you establish your own independence here.

It’s easy to hide away, especially in the winter, but in doing so you limit yourself. So use everything you can – sports, theatre groups, social networks – to get in with fellow expats here.

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CRIME

Spain women’s World Cup players demand more heads roll as Rubiales in court

The crisis within Spanish football deepened Friday as the women's World Cup winners demanded more heads roll at its scandal-hit RFEF federation whose disgraced ex-boss appeared in court on sexual assault charges.

Spain women's World Cup players demand more heads roll as Rubiales in court

Just hours after Luis Rubiales was quizzed by a judge for kissing midfielder Jenni Hermoso, all but two of Spain’s 23 World Cup players said they would not don the national shirt without deeper changes within the RFEF, demanding its current interim head also resign.

The statement came as the squad’s new coach Montse Tome was to announce the lineup for two upcoming UEFA Women’s Nations League matches against Sweden and Switzerland, which was promptly postponed, federation sources said.

“The changes put in place are not enough,” said a statement signed by 39 players, among them 21 of the 23 World Cup winners.

Demanding “fundamental changes to the RFEF’s leadership”, they called for the “resignation of the RFEF president” Pedro Rocha, who took over as interim leader when FIFA suspended Rubiales on August 26.

But the federation insisted Rocha would “lead the transition process within the RFEF until the next election”, insisting any changes would be made “gradually”.

A federation source said a leadership election could take place early next year.

“This institution is more important than individuals and it’s crucial it remains strong. We’ll work tirelessly to create stability first in order to progress later,” Rocha said in the statement.

Despite a string of recent changes, the federation remains in the hands of officials appointed by Rubiales, and the players are demanding structural changes “within the office of the president and the secretary general”.

Brought to court by a kiss

The bombshell came after days of optimism within the RFEF that the players would come round after it sacked controversial coach Jorge Vilda, appointed Tome in his stead and pledged further changes, not to mention Rubiales’ long-awaited resignation on Sunday.

On August 25, 81 Spain players, including the 23 world champions, had started a mass strike saying they would not play for the national team without significant changes at the head of the federation.

Earlier on Friday, Rubiales appeared in court where he was quizzed by Judge Francisco de Jorge who is heading up the investigation into the kiss, which sparked international outrage and saw him brought up on sexual assault charges.

At the end of the closed-door hearing, in which Rubiales repeated his claim that the kiss was consensual, the judge ordered him not to come within 200 metres of Hermoso and barred him from any contact with the player.

At the weekend, the 46-year-old had described the kiss as “a spontaneous act, a mutual act, an act that both consented to, which was… 100 percent non-sexual” in an interview with British broadcaster Piers Morgan.

Hermoso, 33, has insisted it was not, describing it as “an impulsive, macho act, out of place and with no type of consent on my part”.

Speaking to reporters outside court, Hermoso’s lawyer Carla Vall said they were “very satisfied” with the hearing.

“Thanks to this video, everyone can see there was no consent whatsoever and that is what we will demonstrate in court.”

Allegations of coercion

Hermoso herself will also testify before the judge at some stage, who will then have to decide whether or not to push ahead with the prosecution. No date has been given for her testimony.

The complaint against Rubiales, which was filed by the public prosecutors’ office, cites alleged offences of sexual assault and coercion.

Under a recent reform of the Spanish penal code, a non-consensual kiss can be considered sexual assault, a category which groups all types of sexual violence.

If found guilty, Rubiales could face anything from a fine to four years in prison, sources at the public prosecutors’ office have said.

In their complaint, prosecutors explained the offence of coercion related to Hermoso’s statement saying she “and those close to her had suffered constant ongoing pressure by Luis Rubiales and his professional entourage to justify and condone” his actions.

At the hearing, Rubiales also denied coercion.

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