The former Offaly hurler and now the main leading the charge in brining the faithful county back to it’s glory days, Michael Duignan was on the BBC GAA Podcast during the week and quoted by balls.ie. The All-Ireland winner explained how the dynamic of Open winner Shane Lowry and his sponsorship of Offaly GAA works.
“I don’t think people realise how determined that man, and how passionate he is,”
“When you meet him, his eyes blaze. People see him as this easy-going, happy-go-lucky fella – he’s not, he’s very determined, very ambitious. That’s what impresses me about him. He’s out there to win majors. You can see the choices he’s making, moving to America, and settling his family there.”
“He’s partnering with us, supporting us. He’s very interested in what we’re doing. He’s away most of the time now. He’s living in America full-time, but’s home for a month or six week for the Irish Open, British Open. That’s the way it’ll be for years to come.
“He gave us some money himself, [a six-figure sum]. He has plans for a golf tournament in Florida next February, which should raise a significant few quid for us. He’s committed to doing something every year or so that will bring in a few quid. We didn’t really go too deep into it after that.
“Money is very important, but his involvement is more important. He is so interested. I met him the other day. We were talking about the minor hurlers. He was talking about the U20s footballers from last year, the seniors. He knows all the players.
“It’s like he’s still living at home, and he’s still one of the lads going to matches. If he was at home, he’d be at every match. He sent me a picture during the All-Ireland minor semi-final, Offaly and Clare, with the feet up watching on the TV. He’d just missed the cut in the US Open by a shot, but he was watching the match.”