This article is from page 3 of the 2012-01-17 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 3 JPG
GER Loughnane re-emerged on the national scene last Friday following his recent illness when he strongly criticised some sections of the media for their conduct during his battle with leukaemia over the past few months.
Loughnane’s re-emergence from his self-imposed media blackout was welcomed throughout the county, and indeed the country, as news of his return to health and form spread.
He confirmed in his interview that the worst of his treatment is over and he is close to fighting fit. He also showed he had lost none of his forthrightness by strongly criticising an unnamed RTÉ sports reporter and The Examiner newspaper for their conduct during his treatment.
The Feakle native stated he has been left with “nothing but absolute contempt” for certain journalists after he was requested to do an interview days after he started treatment and it was then reported he had died last July.
Writing in The Star newspaper, Loughnane stated, “The lowest point of all was when the rumours that I was dead went around. That was the hardest thing to deal with,” he said. “I had the first phase of chemotherapy just finished and the first phase is very, very difficult.”
After such an ordeal, he and his wife Mary had to calm his distraught son Conor, who had rung from Aus- tralia upon hearing and reading reports of his father’s death.
“I had to ring Conor to reassure him that everything was fine.”
The Clare legend was also angered by requests for an interview from a reporter that came two days after he started treatment.
“I got a message from an RTÉ reporter looking to do an interview. I didn’t even reply to it.”
The request was re-routed through a friend. “I was on the chemo for three days, he knew I was on chemo but he wanted to do an interview for his own gratification. Worse still then, he wanted to do an interview at the end of the year.
“He sent me a text saying he was thinking of me and praying for me, and was there any chance I’d do an interview. That’s despicable stuff altogether.
“It shows the kind of insincerity that is there with a certain section. When you see it as barefaced as that, you have nothing but absolute contempt for the people who are trying to pull that kind of stunt.”
The principal of St Aidan’s Primary School in Shannon also confirmed in the interview that he will be retiring from that role over the coming months, while it is unclear whether he will be returning to RTÉ as a Sunday Game pundit this summer.