Miguel Delaney and Paul McShane Visit

Last week, our school was extremely fortunate to have the incredible Paul McShane and Miguel Delaney give a talk to our soccer squads. They were interviewed by 5th year student, Kian Quigley who is an Irish youth international, and school player Eoin Waters. They recorded the full interview as a podcast, which will be available here from Friday, 8th May.

Over the course of the discussion Kian and Eoin asked a variety of questions that allowed both Paul and Miguel to reflect on their past, their career and their predictions for the future. 

Some highlights from Paul included when he talked about the defining moment in his career, which was his Irish debut match against Czechia in which he won player of the match and was recognised as an important player. He also spoke about how to deal with criticism and moving on from mistakes, encouraging players to move on and look to the next action. He advised young Irish players to enjoy the journey of their career, to know that they will have setbacks but to keep going and accept that it's okay to make mistakes.

Miguel also had some amazing insights about the broadcasting side of the game. He talked about how he got into media, through a Transition Year work experience that he experienced -something that many TY students in the room found incredibly interesting. He spoke on the differences that social media has brought to journalism, explaining how tough it can be to be surrounded by harsh opinions and how social media has created a “whole new media landscape”. As well as that he speculated on who will win the World Cup this summer, predicting that it will be Spain. Paul agreed with Miguel on this and supported his answer. 

Eoin and Kian finished the interview with an extremely important question: ‘Who do you think is the better player, Messi or Ronaldo ?’ Miguel and Paul had conflicting opinions with Paul answering Ronaldo due to his work ethic and Miguel saying Messi because of how elegantly he plays. The interview came to a close and the squads were given the opportunity to ask questions and talk to Paul and Miguel. 

Overall it was an amazing experience for everyone present and incredibly motivating for young players who want a future in football or journalism. A massive thank you to Paul and Miguel for coming back to St. David’s and giving up their time for this interview. Be sure to check out the podcast episode in full!

Reporter and photographer: Abi Breathnach