Ó hAilpín relishing summer's epic fare

GAELIC GAMES: Gavin Cummiskeytalks to Seán Óg Ó hAilpín, who is already looking forward to the eagerly awaited meeting with Tipperary in June

IT'S NOT that Seán Óg Ó hAilpín seeks to provide reporters with great copy; it's just that the Corkman expresses himself in a unique manner, much like his Fijian and Fermanagh heritage. There is a refreshing absence of clichéd garble.

Yesterday, as Ó hAilpín spoke to the gathered media on the fourth-floor boardroom of Ulster Bank, his employers on George's Quay, he touched upon the mortality of his sporting life.

Time will eventually catch up on the current batch of Cork hurlers. Many have been on the road since the 1999 All-Ireland triumph. The cracks are already evident as manager Gerald McCarthy spent a disjointed league campaign blooding another generation to grow into that famous red jersey.

The strike is over and intercounty life has returned to normal as Cork prepare for a predictably epic encounter with league champions Tipperary in the Munster championship semi-final.

"For a lot of us, our careers are on the line on June 8th against Tipperary," said Ó hAilpín. "One thing I would say is that I didn't think at this time last year that they would become the force they have. However, knowing the amount of work they have put in since it doesn't surprise me.

"We see it as a great challenge playing Tipp in Páirc Uí Chaoimh. It will be our first big hit-out of the year and there will be a lot of interest in the game. It will be interesting."

Remarkably, after the strike cost them two league matches, they managed to reach the league semi-final. It was the day Galway introduced Joe Canning to senior hurling. He did not disappoint.

Galway blitzed Cork in the opening 35 minutes before an admirable revival put some respectability on the final score.

"They hit us with an intensity that we weren't used to. They hit us with a ferocity we weren't prepared for and that day showed that we were probably two or three games off. But that was two or three weeks ago and we're further down the road towards June 8th."

Cork took their beating and went back to work. They have just returned from warm-weather training at La Manga, Spain.

"We had a super week. It went off great. That was my first time on a training holiday and I would recommend it big time. You probably get more done in that week than you would in a normal training week here.

"Here you're training on Tuesdays and Thursdays together. Last week we were training every day and some days twice a day and we got a lot of work done.

"In an environment like that it is less stressful because you don't have to rush from work after driving through Cork City traffic to get to wherever you have to go stressed to your gills. That was taken away.

"You wake up in your hotel five minutes down the road to the pitch. There were no mobile phones either and we probably packed in a month's training session in that week."

The old and young panellists had time to feel each other out.

"It was super for bonding with the youngsters and if the week achieved anything that was it," adds Ó hAilpín. "Gerald and the backroom team have brought in a lot of young lads and as much as you think you know them, you don't. You talk about things outside of hurling and we will need that bond when it comes to big games. It does count.

"It was a great week but it wasn't a holiday camp. If we're going next year again, put my name down for it."

Okay, so maybe Seán Óg is not yet contemplating a hurling postscript. Elaboration was sought. Is the eldest Ó hAilpín brother considering the end?

"I'm not thinking that way personally but that's the way you have to view it.

"As much as you might like to think that you're a permanent fixture, you're not, and that's the approach that every player has to take.

"The new lads have upped the tempo of training and it has upped the competition a small bit, which was badly needed especially when you've been winning for a couple of years."