Former GAA president Nickey Brennan gives seal of approval to life as a roving reporter

About an hour after the Leinster hurling final last month, in the tunnel beneath the Hogan Stand, a huddle of reporters stood beside the Kilkenny team bus trying to grab a word with some of the victorious players.

It was just a small cluster of hacks, no more than three or four, but between them they had five All-Ireland senior medals, five Leinster senior crowns, two National Leagues and an All-Ireland Under-21 title.

Well, when we say combined, those riches were accumulated by just one of the posse – Nickey Brennan, the former Kilkenny hurler, manager, chairman, and president of the GAA who these days is a jack-of-all-trades roving reporter with Community Radio Kilkenny City. Gamekeeper turned poacher.

For several years now, the man who was head of the GAA between 2006 and 2009 has been covering Kilkenny matches, club and county, for the local volunteer-led station.

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“It’s my hobby, to be blunt about it,” says Brennan.

When it comes to the media side of things, I’d consider some of those guys the Premier League, I’m down in League One or League Two

Still, it takes a certain humbleness of character and unassuming nature to select a splintered seat (or none at all) in the press box ahead of a plush one in the reserved area, to happily switch from influencing policy as president of the association to filing a match report for Danesfort against Dunnamaggin in Ballyragget.

It’s not just sport he covers: he hosts a bilingual morning show every Saturday. On Wednesday night he was in Langton’s Hotel for a two-hour live preview event ahead of Sunday’s final, and on Thursday afternoon the former Kilkenny manager was interviewing one of the hopefuls for the upcoming Westmeath Bachelor Festival.

“He’s taking part in the competition in Mullingar next week, so you come across all sorts of stories,” smiles Brennan.

There are not many corners of the GAA Brennan hasn’t inhabited. He was on the Kilkenny team that lost the 1971 All-Ireland minor final, but three years later he helped the Cats claim the Under-21 title. Brian Cody was one of his teammates and they would also hurl together at senior level.

When Kilkenny won the All-Ireland SHC and National Hurling League in 1982, Cody was captain of the team and Brennan was a mainstay at wing back.

After a successful stint as Kilkenny under-21 hurling boss, Brennan was appointed senior manager in late 1995 and remained until the end of the 1997 season. He also had a spell as Kilkenny football manager and served as Kilkenny chairman, Leinster Council chairman and ultimately GAA president.

[ 2005: Kilkenny's Nickey Brennan wins presidential election at the GAA's annual Congress ]

This Saturday morning, the Conahy Shamrocks clubman will do his show live from studio and then hop in his car for the trip across to Thurles for an All-Ireland intermediate camogie semi-final where Kilkenny face Derry. On Sunday, he’ll be in the press box at Croke Park for the All-Ireland hurling decider.

“I’ve always been very grateful to the other reporters because we all just natter around, be it at the top of Croke Park or at a country venue, everybody just gets on with it and we do our own bit,” says Brennan.

“When it comes to the media side of things, I’d consider some of those guys the Premier League, I’m down in League One or League Two, but it’s still important from our point of view to serve a local audience.”

Listeners of local radio would argue there is nothing more important: there is a soulful reassurance that comes from hearing one of your own tell the story which cannot be replicated by a national broadcaster.

In October 2002, Radio Kilkenny lost its licence after the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland opted to grant one to a rival bidder instead, Kilkenny Carlow Local Radio (KCLR).

Shocked by the decision, some of those involved in Radio Kilkenny set about creating a new community-based volunteer-led radio station. When Brennan’s three-year term as GAA president ended, he was asked to help. He joined the board, and as well as broadcasting himself, for several years he negotiated with the BAI to secure temporary licences.

I do everything, I’m totally self-sufficient in that regard. I record, I edit the packages and I can run the studio inside

“You’d maybe get a 70-day or 100-day licence,” he recalls. “At the time we were only broadcasting on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, so with a 100-day licence that would get us 33 weekends.

“But it was frustrating because you’d go flat out and then suddenly you were finished. You’d lose all the momentum you had gained. People would turn on their radio one day and suddenly you weren’t there. It was a difficult period. Had we not got the ten-year licence, I’d say we might have folded, we were nearing the last call.”

CRKC was granted a ten-year licence in late 2007. “It currently broadcasts from 8am to midnight, seven days a week,” says Brennan. “There are a number of paid staff and some on employment schemes but the majority would be like myself, total volunteers.” He estimates there are between 60 and 70 volunteers.

Over the years, Brennan has stood across from Cody in the driving January rain after Walsh Cup matches, shielded only by the gable wall of a clubhouse, asking his former teammate and captain about the young lads who had just got an early season chance against Laois or Wexford or whoever.

“In fairness to Brian, he wouldn’t have treated me differently to anybody else holding a microphone in front of him, nor would I expect him to. It never mattered who was asking the questions,” says Brennan.

“Derek Lyng is the same. To be honest, I think they respect what the station does on the local scene, reporting on club matches that might not be covered otherwise, the same when it comes to schools and colleges.”

As he became increasingly intrigued by the media landscape, Brennan upskilled by enrolling in a radio production course. When he turns up at Croke Park this weekend, he will be a one-man broadcast band.

“Yeah, I do everything. I’m totally self-sufficient in that regard,” he says. “I record, I edit the packages and I can run the studio inside.”

GAA broadcast rights has been in the news of late and permission to carry live match reports continues to be a contentious issue for numerous local radio stations. CRKC does not have rights to deliver full live coverage for Kilkenny intercounty games, but Brennan will be providing updates throughout Sunday’s encounter, plus the pre-match build-up and the post-match reaction.

I’ve always been very grateful to the other reporters because we all just natter around, everybody just gets on with it and we do our own bit

But the local scene remains the station’s bread and butter. “Two weeks after the All-Ireland final, the club championships start,” Brennan says. “We’ll be getting going with those then.”

Having been involved with Kilkenny teams in various capacities over the years – player, manager, chairperson – he will watch the latest crop of Cats take to the field for an All-Ireland final from the press box this Sunday.

“I think there is a steely confidence in Kilkenny that they can win,” adds Brennan. “But there is also a realism that Limerick are favourites, and Kilkenny will need to be playing to their maximum to beat them.”

He should know. When it comes to the GAA, at this stage he’s pretty much completed it.