THE GALWAY ANNIHILATION was an evening that Michael Carton would much rather forget but when he took off his Dublin jersey and pulled on his fireman’s uniform, he knew he wouldn’t get away lightly.
“Ah yeah, absolute abuse,” he said of the reception that awaited him on his return to work.
“‘Did you see this goal?’ They’ll have it on record. You get stick but sure that’s what you expect.”
Juggling an elite inter-county career with the demands of being a full-time emergency responder requires a great deal of compromise — from superiors, colleagues, management and team-mates as well as the player himself.
It’s now 12 years since Carton made his Dublin debut in 2003 and he knows that he has been fortunate to work with understanding managers in Anthony Daly and now Ger Cunningham, as well as understanding colleagues.
“Once you find that balance it’s fine,” he explains. “I get on with it. Nights can be tough.
“I’m lucky with the work lads covering for me. If I have to miss a [training] session, it’s very seldom.
I have a good balance I have to say. I’m looked after on both sides.
The spotlight is very much on Dublin this Saturday as they look to salvage their summer by beating Laois in Round 1 of the qualifiers.
Their inability to kill off Galway in the drawn quarter-final, followed by the 13-point hiding they shipped in the replay, has ramped up the pressure on Cunningham’s first championship campaign.
Some would find it tough to handle, but Carton faces enough do-or-die situations on a daily basis to put everything into perspective.
“You get out and play with a bit of freedom and not play with worry when you’re out on the pitch, do you know that kind of way?
The job I’m in puts hurling in perspective, absolutely. Sure if you’re going from someone dying or doing CPR and then you’re trying to compare it to a championship match… that’s why I just go out and enjoy myself when I’m playing.
“Absolutely, you’re going to get your fatalities in the job I’m in. But I do find it’s a bit of freedom when you go out and cross the white line and forget about everything else.”
Originally published at 06.30
