LAST MAY, THE Dublin county board revealed that senior and U21 footballer Shane Carthy was receiving treatment for depression. His subsequent mental health battle put Gaelic football on the backburner but 2015 has seen the positive sight of Carthy back on the playing fields for Dublin.
He’s featured for the senior team during the league and will play in tomorrow night’s Eirgrid Leinster U21 football final for Dublin against Kildare.
His U21 teammate Davy Byrne has huge admiration for Carthy.
“You have to commend Shane for coming through that. It has been absolutely brilliant to get him back playing this year. I know Shane well after playing with him for a good few years, I came up with the same age group as him.
“I’d absolutely commend him for coming through it, it has been tough on him but we just tried to be as accommodating as possible as a team, whenever he was ready to come back we were happy to take him back.”
Byrne admitted he was surprised when he first learned of Carthy’s mental health problems.
“Anyone who said they knew Shane had no idea that was going on in the background. It was absolutely very surprising but it is testament to the strength of his character that he is coming through now and having a very strong U21 campaign. He is definitely a leader on our team.
“It definitely took us by surprise but we just wished Shane all the best and said ‘you have to do what you have to do, get yourself right and football comes second.’.”
