Armagh's Eimear Hayes striking the right balance

By Daragh Ó Conchúir

Eimear Hayes finds the balance suits her, working in the A&E department at Newry’s Daisy Hill Hospital providing context when dealing with the so-called pressures of playing at the highest level, such as for Armagh’s Glen Dimplex All-Ireland premier junior camogie final at Croke Park on Sunday, against Laois (1pm, live on RTÉ2).

Thanks to the understanding of management, who have clearly wanted the Tullysaran defender in their ranks, work has never gotten in the way of camogie except for one year – 2020 – and that was her own call.

It was Covid times. As a nurse working in the eye of the pandemic, Hayes did not feel that she could, in all conscience, go from the ward to the pitch, no matter what precautions were being taken.

The price of that selfless act was watching on a laptop as her colleagues won the All-Ireland title, against Cavan at Kingspan Breffni. Of course she was delighted for them, and there is not even a hint of regret now.

Indeed, in the spirit of all healthy dressing rooms, she is slagged as a hex, having played in three other finals – 2016, 2021 and 2022, when the Orchard’s finest failed to get over the line.

She takes that in fine heart too, and was ready to put her shoulder to the wheel once more, even after losing to Clare and Tipperary by a point at the penultimate stage of the last two championships.

“The one thing you want to be doing at the start of the year is that you want to be preparing for an All-Ireland final,” says Hayes.

“So it’s a bit of a relief after the semi-finals, we’ve got to where we have planned to be. There’s a good buzz. It was two years in a row we’d been beat in the semi-final by the team that’s went on to win it. So it was 100% a big relief now to get over the line.

“It’s funny, the girls joke with me about (the finals won and lost) but thank God, that was great, it was brilliant that they won it when I wasn’t there.”

The laughter is natural, not forced. There is more to life and she sees that most days at work.

“The hours are not great in terms of trying to manage playing camogie. People do say to you sometimes, ‘God, fair play to ya,’ or ‘God, that must be awful,’ but I’m like, no, because if I didn’t have camogie…I’m lucky enough that I can play it because if I didn’t have that release, and I think it’s the same for everyone in sports, to be able to go from work, from that environment to, yes, training hard, but having the craic with 25 other girls, you genuinely forget about it.

“Och, I suppose it does put into perspective what you’re doing. On the grand scheme of things, you might feel a bit tired, but you know what? Actually, you’re really not that bad off.

“Management is great. And I suppose that’s the very definition of manager and management but they’re very, very good. And I have appreciated so much, they’ve been so accommodating. And I’ve never once been made to feel, ‘Oh you’re missing this or missing that,’ they’ve always been excellent.”

That someone of the calibre of PJ O’Mullan would come in as boss, just a few months after keeping Derry in the senior ranks, having stewarded the Oak Leafers’ return to the big time, was a huge vote of confidence and another example, Hayes states, of the county board providing all they can to their camogs.

She has relished the raising of the bar in all aspects but there was an impact, even before he came in.

“From the get-go, he’s been incredibly professional, but he’s been accommodating. He has basically pushed us to be better. He set standards maybe that, not that we’re missing, but that we maybe didn’t adhere to, or try our best to get to. In terms of training, he’s not afraid to call us out which is an excellent thing.

“You go out every training trying to impress him, and every game, you try to impress them all - he has a great background team - because you know that they’re watching. And they’re not afraid to make changes. They’re not afraid to make the hard calls.

“I suppose being a bit more high profile, for the younger girls, even me, there was a nervousness going out first night. You thought you really had to excel to try to impress him.”

That is something indeed as Hayes is one of the most experienced members of the panel, one of five survivors from the 2016 group along with current captain Ciara Hill, Rachael Merry, Nicola Woods and Ciarrai Devlin. That is vital nous, given that there has been a huge turnover since last year, with she reckons, 13 players gone from 2024. That they have reached this stage is a huge achievement in those circumstances.

The years roll by and she can’t remember if it was a year or two before that she was called up. What is inarguable is that she turned 30 last month. Once more, the dressing room did what dressing rooms do.

“It took a bit of a while (to deal with it),” she jokes. “I got a lot of grief from the girls. But you know what? They keep telling me it’s just a number, but I don’t know how I feel about that in the mornings after training!”

This sounds like a very healthy, tight-knit group. You give it, you take it and you have each other’s backs. Like any family.

Hayes’ focus on balance extended to going travelling with her partner in the latter half of 2022. Four months in southeast Asia, six weeks in New Zealand, six weeks in Australia and four months in South America.

“It was savage. And it definitely scratched an itch. I’ve had that period now and then you go straight back into focusing on camogie.”

Which brings her back to Croke Park. Win or lose, Hayes will go into work dealing at times with life or death, and know that there are worse things than losing a match and better things than winning one. And that the core of life is the relationships in them, and that she and her friends gave their all standing shoulder to shoulder.

That said, you take your joy where you can get it and winning would be brilliant.

“I suppose from a camogie perspective, there’s 26 other counties or whatever that won’t feature in an All-Ireland final. And I suppose you do have to look at it that from that side of things, that you’re the lucky one to be building up to it. You’ve trained since November to be in this position, to put yourself in with a chance of winning an All-Ireland. There’s nerves and you’d love to get on with it but you have to enjoy it too.

“The men being in the football final last year, the buzz after that semi-final, for a whole county to share, the joy and the buzz and the excitement that came within then two weeks in the lead-up, was just unbelievable. Obviously this is not at the same scale but in my own club, everyone is talking about it and wishing you well. So you have to embrace it and get on with it.”