BIGGER CAUSE
Have to face up to bullies – Shelbourne assistant Joey O’Brien will keep on speaking up for Palestinians
He also pinpointed how their 2-0 win could've been a much closer-run thing
SHELBOURNE assistant manager Joey O’Brien insisted that anyone who can must keep speaking up in support of the Palestinian people.
The Shels No. 2 conducted media interviews following last night’s 2-0 win over Galway United wearing a t-shirt emblazoned with the words ‘Saoirse don Phalaistín’.
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And he said that it is important that what is happening in Gaza is not forgotten even if it is no longer making headlines every day.
O’Brien said: “Listen, it hasn’t been a new thing for me. I’ve been following it and watching it for years and years and years.
“But what has happened in the last few months has built it up to a broader base.
“It’s heartbreaking. Irish Sport for Palestine are trying to do some good stuff and through that I try to give it a little support.
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“It’s a small thing…who the f**k is Joey O’Brien at the end of the day?
“But if it gets people to talk about it or keep it in the public consciousness a little bit and the suffering that is going on over there, maybe I have a little small platform that can do that.
“The whole situation over there isn’t going to go away as soon as the war stops, it’s still going to be there.
“The people are still suffering, they’re going to continue to suffer until it is sorted out, you know.”
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O’Brien also referenced one tragic story that was reported by Associated Press in March about Rania Abu Anza who lost her five-month old twins and her husband in an Israeli air strike on Rafah in southern Gaza.
He said: “I remember at the start of it reading a story of a lady that was over there…she had some unsuccessful pregnancies and in the end she had twins.
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“And she brought the twins home and she went to bed on the first night and she woke up and the two of them were dead.
“That touches me, I have twins - a boy and a girl. That lady had a boy and a girl. If that doesn’t touch you, there is something up with you.
“I find it heartbreaking. For me an awful lot of it comes down to the simple things. I know it’s a complicated situation.
“For me in life, I hate bullies and I just see them being bullied as people, and I stand up to bullies, that’s what my stance is.”
MATCH DISCUSSION
Meanwhile, O’Brien was pleased with Shels showing as they returned from the mid-season break with a comfortable 2-0 win over Galway United.
It keeps them two points clear of Derry City with a game in hand, and there is now a 12-point gap to third placed Waterford.
But O’Brien insisted it is not a two-horse race, as Shelbourne block out the outside noise that is building around their title charge.
He said: “No, definitely not (a two-horse race). We're just (concentrating) on small stuff.
“From the point of view of the players and how we train and the matches, it's like anything and there tonight, the games are in the balance, there's nothing in them.
“We're looking at our 2-0 win and it's great but ultimately it comes down to a peno save and Conor (Kearns) produces a huge moment.
“And if it goes 2-1 there the kitchen sink is going into us for the last 15/20 minutes and then who knows?
“And there again, big moment Griff (Shane Griffin) takes one off the line and to keep that two goal advantage is a massive thing.
“It's small moments and that's what the league is about.
"It's about producing when you're asked to and in them instances Conor and Griff produced.”