Death of Offaly All-Ireland U-21 football winning hero

THE sad and early death has taken place of Donal O'Neill, a key member of the Offaly side that won the All-Ireland U-21 Football Championship in 1988.

In his mid 50s and a native of Edenderry, O'Neill's performances in goals were pivotal to Offaly's big success. It was their first title in that grade and it came after an incredible, roller coaster year. It took them four attempts to beat Wexford in the Leinster final and then Kerry took them to a replay in the All-Ireland semi-final.

As the Leinster final went to three replays in Carlow, a huge bond was forged between the Offaly team and supporters with numbers increasing for each game. It all resulted in a huge crowd flocking to Longford for the All-Ireland final against Cavan with long delays on the approach roads in.

It meant that it was into the second half before a lot of supporters got in but they were in time to see Offaly hold on for a 0-11 to 0-9 win after a tense, fiercely fought game.

O'Neill was in outstanding form in goals throughout that campaign, an ultra reliable last line of defence. He was calm, steady, a good shot blocker, competent under the high ball and he had a consistent kickout. He had all the attributes to be a long serving Offaly senior goalkeeper but study and then work commitments took him off the scene.

In his last year at U-21 level in 1988, he also played in goals for Offaly seniors that year. He had made his debut three years earlier in 1985 when still a minor – he had the very unique distinction of playing in goals for Offaly in minor, U-21 and senior in 1985 and was clearly a goalkeeper with immense potential . The great Martin Furlong was still playing in 1985 but was injured for the first round of the championship against Louth and O'Neill got the call up. Furlong was back for the defeat by Dublin but O'Neill was clearly his heir apparent at this stage.

He had impressed with his performances as Edenderry won the Senior Football Championship in 1985, beating Raheen in the final. He played regularly in 1985, 1986, '87 and '88, making 24 league and championship appearances.

It was a traumatic time for Offaly football as the 1982 All-Ireland senior champions disintegrated much quicker than anticipated but expectations and demands remained sky high.

The 1988 championship defeat by Meath proved to be O'Neill's last game in goals for Offaly senior footballers. He didn't play for Offaly after 1988 either as he pursued study and career - he also opted out of Edenderry for a few years but returned for a year in 1995, playing in goals again as they regained the Dowling Cup with a win over Clara - that win sparked a golden era for Edenderry, their most successful ever as they added championships in 1997, '99 and 2001.

O'Neill's contribution to 1995 was very important and without that win, it would have been harder to win the ones in the following years - though the excellence of their team with Finbarr Cullen at the peak of his powers and Peter Brady enjoying a wonderful renaissance as he entered the veteran ranks meant that they would have almost certainly took titles. Edenderry had used a couple of goalkeepers during that campaign but hadn't settled on one and O'Neill came back late in the campaign, lining out with his customary efficiency for his first game in the Offaly final and playing in the Leinster club championship campaign. 

He was a very well educated man, a lecturer in economics and he was a very helpful, obliging, popular individual. He was a professor of economics in Maynooth University, where his biography gives a comprehensive outline of his qualifications and achievements:

“Donal O’Neill is a Professor of Economics at Maynooth University, a Research Fellow at the IZA Institute for the Study of Labor, Bonn and past President of of the Irish Economic Association. He obtained his Ph.D from the University of Iowa in 1993 and in 2000 was awarded the Barrington Medal for Economics in recognition of his contribution to research in the Social Sciences in Ireland. He has published articles examining the impact of labour market reform on unemployment, the determinants of inequality across countries, the gender and racial wage gap, missing data and measurement error, single-sex education and intergenerational mobility. His research has been published in leading international economics and statistics journals including the American Statistician, the European Journal of Health Economics, Economic Journal, Journal of Economic Inequality, Journal of Human Resources, Journal of Political Economy, Journal of Labor Economics, Labour Economics, Oxford Economic Papers, the Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, the Economics of Education Review and the IZA Journal of Labor Economics. He has also been involved in numerous research projects for government departments in Ireland. From 2015-2018 he served as labour market expert on the inaugural Low Pay Commission of Ireland, a statutory body whose principal function is, on an annual basis, to examine and make recommendations to government on the appropriate level of the national minimum wage and related matters. He is currently a member of the Labour Market Advisory Council evaluation subgroup.”

While a long time out of his native county and town, he is remembered with great fondness in both. A member of a great Edenderry sporting family, he will be sadly missed by his family, many friends and all who knew him.