PHILLY MCMAHON VIEWS his charity work as the best way to change how Irish society views drug addicts, rather than stepping into the political world.
The five-time All-Ireland winner has used his platform to become involved in the consultation for the new national drugs strategy, while his Half Time Talk charity continues to do positive work on the ground.
McMahon, who co-authored the 2017 eir Sport Sports Book of the Year winner ‘The Choice’ alongside The42′s Niall Kelly, believes he can make more of an impact in his current role.
“I’ve been asked a couple of times about politics,” he said. “I’d only get into politics if I felt it was a better platform than charity, and I don’t think it is at the minute.
“I don’t know how much trust there is in politics nowadays in society. Put it this way, I’d listen to Peter McVerry more than a politician, and that’s no disrespect to any politician because there’s some very good ones there.
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“I speak very highly of Helen McEntee on mental health, Lynn Ruane, I actually love Lynn by the way, if you get the chance to sit down for five minutes with her she is the Conor McGregor of politics – in the good way, not the bad way!
“But she’s very down to earth and I think she’s got something unique.
“Aodhan O Riordan is a very positive activist in terms of decriminalisation of drugs. So there is really good people there, so I’m not beating everyone with the same stick, in terms of politically.”
Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
‘The Choice’ explores McMahon’s relationship with his brother John, who was a drug addict and died five years ago. The 30-year-old believes a change in approach is needed in Ireland to better handle the drug epidemic in this country.
“I was involved in the consultation of the national drugs strategy. I only did a speech. It was the first time I got very emotional about John. I actually cried, I was like: harden up here.’
“I’m just hoping things change. There’s things working in other countries. As Irish the typical thing is we don’t like change. We have a cohort of people now that are coming together that are demanding change. That has to happen from the top down.
“Hopefully that’s happening from the top down, because we don’t want to lose any more lives.”
Writing his autobiography helped McMahon grieve for his brother, something he says he avoided when he died.
“One of the management team said it to me – ‘This will help you grieve.’ But I thought I had grieved by working. When he first passed, he passed in London so we had to bring him home as a family and it cost much more than what a normal funeral would cost and we hadn’t got a plot so we had to pay for that. So I just dug the head down into the work.
“It was crazy, I have probably mentioned before I was going from the Ballymun gym that I had to the Tallaght one to the Drimnagh one. That was my way then of grieving but I didn’t realise what grieving was until I sat down and spoke to the family for the book and all these emotions came out, you know? I think that’s the way people should grieve, not hide it in work like I did in the beginning.”
The42 has just published its first book, Behind The Lines, a collection of some of the year’s best sports stories. Pick up your copy in Eason’s, or order it here today (€10):
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'I'd only get into politics if I felt it was a better platform than charity, and I don't think it is'
PHILLY MCMAHON VIEWS his charity work as the best way to change how Irish society views drug addicts, rather than stepping into the political world.
The five-time All-Ireland winner has used his platform to become involved in the consultation for the new national drugs strategy, while his Half Time Talk charity continues to do positive work on the ground.
McMahon, who co-authored the 2017 eir Sport Sports Book of the Year winner ‘The Choice’ alongside The42′s Niall Kelly, believes he can make more of an impact in his current role.
“I’ve been asked a couple of times about politics,” he said. “I’d only get into politics if I felt it was a better platform than charity, and I don’t think it is at the minute.
“I don’t know how much trust there is in politics nowadays in society. Put it this way, I’d listen to Peter McVerry more than a politician, and that’s no disrespect to any politician because there’s some very good ones there.
“I speak very highly of Helen McEntee on mental health, Lynn Ruane, I actually love Lynn by the way, if you get the chance to sit down for five minutes with her she is the Conor McGregor of politics – in the good way, not the bad way!
“But she’s very down to earth and I think she’s got something unique.
“Aodhan O Riordan is a very positive activist in terms of decriminalisation of drugs. So there is really good people there, so I’m not beating everyone with the same stick, in terms of politically.”
‘The Choice’ explores McMahon’s relationship with his brother John, who was a drug addict and died five years ago. The 30-year-old believes a change in approach is needed in Ireland to better handle the drug epidemic in this country.
“I was involved in the consultation of the national drugs strategy. I only did a speech. It was the first time I got very emotional about John. I actually cried, I was like: harden up here.’
“I’m just hoping things change. There’s things working in other countries. As Irish the typical thing is we don’t like change. We have a cohort of people now that are coming together that are demanding change. That has to happen from the top down.
“Hopefully that’s happening from the top down, because we don’t want to lose any more lives.”
Writing his autobiography helped McMahon grieve for his brother, something he says he avoided when he died.
“One of the management team said it to me – ‘This will help you grieve.’ But I thought I had grieved by working. When he first passed, he passed in London so we had to bring him home as a family and it cost much more than what a normal funeral would cost and we hadn’t got a plot so we had to pay for that. So I just dug the head down into the work.
“It was crazy, I have probably mentioned before I was going from the Ballymun gym that I had to the Tallaght one to the Drimnagh one. That was my way then of grieving but I didn’t realise what grieving was until I sat down and spoke to the family for the book and all these emotions came out, you know? I think that’s the way people should grieve, not hide it in work like I did in the beginning.”
The42 has just published its first book, Behind The Lines, a collection of some of the year’s best sports stories. Pick up your copy in Eason’s, or order it here today (€10):
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