Army life was ‘absolute boredom’, says Kilkenny hurling star Colin Fennelly

KILKENNY hurling star Colin Fennelly has given a searingly honest account of life in the army – describing his six years in the Defence Forces as “absolute boredom”.

The Ballyhale Shamrocks clubman said he got “no job satisfaction” from his time in the Defence Forces. And he added that “in the army itself, there’s nothing to do”.

The seven-time All-Ireland winner spoke out in a frank interview with Newstalk’s ‘Off the Ball’ yesterday evening.

Speaking of his time with the Defence Forces, he said: “It was a means to an end to be honest. I enjoyed it only because I was doing so well with Kilkenny.

“There was no job satisfaction in it for me. I’m sure for certain lads there is. In the army itself, there’s nothing to do.

“It’s obviously a good thing there’s nothing to do army-wise. But walk down to the locker rooms and you see lads there doing nothing, because there’s nothing to do.”

Referring to his time spent overseas in Lebanon, he added: “There was nothing happening over there. You get your run in and your gym in during the day. That’s pretty much it.”

Fennelly spent six years in the Defence Forces, but he claimed boredom was affecting morale and that “there’s a whole revamp that needs to be done”.

And he added: “When I hear the nurses coming out and asking for more pay, I can see exactly why” because “the work they do (compared to) the work the army do”.

Fennelly left the army last year. He said it was always his career goal to move into project management.

However, the hurling star’s blunt assessment did not go down too well with some of his former comrades.

In response to the interview, the Defence Forces tweeted from the Óglaigh na hÉireann Twitter account saying: “We are surprised and disappointed to hear these comments from a former member. Óglaigh na hÉireann takes pride in our members who achieve at the highest levels in sport. However, whilst sport is an integral aspect of our culture, it is not the only aspect.”