‘There are a lot of rural clubs, town clubs, who bury their heads when drugs are mentioned’

GAA FEATURE Referee says GAA not doing enough to fight drug addiction

Keith Sheerin is sitting on a bench sipping a cup of coffee and talking about his life, particularly those days in the past when he descended into chaos. Those days when he drank excessively, took drugs and gambled way more than he should have.

The bench he is sitting on is in Wilkinstown close to that splendidly constructed amenity - the Navan to Kingscourt Greenway. It’s also very close to his place of work - Keith’s Meats – which is, in turn, part of the local Mace outlet.

When he meets up with the Meath Chronicle, Keith looks fit, hardly a surprise, considering he is one of the Royal County’s top referees, something that was confirmed as fact when he was named as the Meath Referee of the Year for 2024.

He has also taken charge of some high-profile games in his career to date including the 2021 IFC final between Trim and Oldcastle and last year’s JFC final showdown when Dunsany ended their long wait for a title by defeating St Vincent’s. This year he took charge of the Granddaddy of them all - the SFC final between Summerhill and Ratoath.

The fact that he won the Referee of the Year and was appointed to take charge of a SFC showdown is hardly a surprise either because he loves refereeing, loves the GAA and just about everything about it. He looks forward to going out taking charge of games, meeting people, having the craic. He couldn’t imagine life without it.

It might be a little too strong; a little too dramatic to assert that refereeing, the GAA, saved his life but it’s not that far wide of the target either.

The old Association and people within it, certainly helped him find some kind of stability at a time when his life resembled a ship tossing violently about on stormy sea; when he had descended into some sort of living hell and found himself in a dark place driven there by that deadly combination of drugs, drink and gambling; the three terrible amigos that ultimately dragged him down.

It’s eight years ago now since he said enough is enough and began to turn away from drink and drugs. That day in 2017 was a major milestone, a turning point in his life.

He harks back to the final few days he spent on the binge before he shouted ‘stop.’ He reflects on that time because, you suspect, it encapsulated, just how crazy, and out of control, his life had become.

“In that last weekend there was a lot of drink, drugs and gambling involved,” he recalls. “There was drink driving as well as I went around looking for drugs, cocaine. The next day I opened the shop. Two hours later I left the shop and went on the beer again and gambled €2,000 that day.”

Reflecting on such chaos Keith hones in too on the little flashes of kindness from others. Small little gestures of understanding he now finds touching and significant. “I was thankful because the pub I was in that day the publican stopped taking bets from me.

“I was thankful for that but the drink driving to me now looking back was crazy. The more I drank the faster I drove. I was looking for attention, it’s a real alcoholic’s trait, manipulation, looking for attention from family and friends and playing games with them.”

“I was a binge drinker. I didn’t drink every day. If I wasn’t drinking I could be training for a half-marathon so I’m going from one extreme to another. So when I was drinking it was a binge and it could be a week, or two weeks binge. I would be looking to have rows with people to justify me going out for a drink.

“They would be looking for me. I’d tell them I was somewhere but I wasn’t there. I was somewhere else. It was a cry for help but attention seeking as well.”

SETTING OUT

Keith Sheerin, who is now 42, grew up in Trim and was always a “massive”, passionate supporter of the Meath football team in particular and Meath GAA in general.

He didn’t play Gaelic games, or other sports, very much. Instead he turned to refereeing along with his twin brother Jason who is an accomplished soccer match official. Apart from the GAA, however, there were other distractions for young Keith.

“As a young fella going around Trim, say from 15, 16, 17, I would have dabbled in drugs, not in an addictive sort of way, most teenagers just want to try things,” recalls Keith.

“I left school after the junior cert and started butchering straight away in Trim. A lot of alcoholics I know started drinking after school, at work or college, that wasn’t me.”

He started his own business, got married, had a family – daughter Ella, who is now 15 and sons Tommy (12) and Danny (10).

Then, in his thirties the drinking started to get more serious and all-consuming. He became a victim of his own addictive personality. There were no half measures. It was all or nothing. Steadily, the three terrible amigos started to take over. Outwardly he lived a ‘normal’ life, successful, settled. Behind the scenes, in his own head, it was different.

After years of over-indulging, successfully maintaining a front, it all crumbled. He came to accept that he needed help. He attended a treatment centre in Wexford. That was June 2017.

“The previous two years weren’t good at all, if I had continued on the road I was on, I don’t know if I would be around today. That’s not being dramatic.”

His quest to stay sober is an on-going process that requires constant work – and the GAA is a major part of that process. “I work continuously to stay sober because I genuinely believe I will never drink again, or gamble again, that mindset hasn’t changed. I just need to continue to work on myself and understand myself and that’s where refereeing comes in.

“The GAA for me, and refereeing in particular, is my new addiction, it’s a healthy addiction, but I probably shouldn’t label it as an addiction but it probably is. I love everything about the GAA, it’s a massive, massive part of my life.”

HELPING OTHERS

Having gone through what he went through Keith Sheerin finds himself compelled to help others who are now going through what he has endured – and he says there are many in the GAA with issues in terms of addictions who need help but there is a wall of resistance out there too, a reluctance to face up to the truth. Something he clearly finds deeply frustrating.

“There’s so much good in the GAA but I think drug taking is a massive issue within the Association. It’s a social issue and the GAA is no different.

“I genuinely believe there are a lot of rural clubs, town clubs, who bury their heads when drugs is mentioned, and there’s not enough help out there. There’s just this massive stigma surrounding drugs. I’m not saying for one second we should condone drug taking or anything like that but I genuinely feel we should acknowledge where there is an issue within club, and there should be help there for those people, for those lads and ladies.

“I have been talking to several players who have reached out to me about their drugs use and the drugs within the community, and it’s great they are reaching out. I will go and I will say to the club ‘would you like me to come in and have a conversation about it.’ Oh no, no, no, they shut it down straightaway.

“There is this thing, you can drink whatever you want, you can gamble whatever you want but don’t mention drugs.”

He points to David Hosie from the Seneschalstown club and what he his seeking to do to help those ensnared by drugs. “It’s incredible David’s openness, his honesty. I get quite emotional reading some of his interviews because I can relate to so much of it,” he adds.

“There are so many out there, young lads, 18, 19, 20 who are struggling, really, really struggling with drugs, mental health, because it’s all hand-in-hand but some like to brush it under the carpet – ‘not in our club, not in our club.’ The amount of time I heard that old line.”

“Even a notice for AA or CA (Cocaine Anonymous) meetings would help. I would have no problem giving out my phone number because so many times when you are in that rut you are thinking that there’s nobody out there, there’s nobody to help and it’s the same with alcoholism.

“Drugs is the same thing, more dangerous, more expensive but it’s driven underground so much. I was talking to a fella in a club and he described how several players were taking drugs, cocaine, after training, even before training, before games, after games. These lads going on serious sessions for two days, could be on coke for two days, not eating, not minding themselves. That could be eight or nine first team players.”

“This player approached me, he reached out to me, and that was fantastic, but he wasn’t ready to stop at the time, but six months later something I said resonated and I think he is clean now for the past five or six years, living a fantastic life, away from football which is another shame because he realised he had to get away from that – people, places, things.

“It’s the same with me. I wouldn’t meet anyone in a pub because I don’t belong in a pub. We have to keep away from people, places, things, that remind us of drinking or using or gambling. That’s what I say about minding myself. I have to mind myself on a daily basis.”