To listen to RTÉ.ie's radio and podcast services, you will need to disable any ad blocking extensions or whitelist this site.
0
00:00
00:00
Story Notes
"I stand by my men!", says Gus O'Loughlin - and he means it. His 'men' are The Burren tug-of-war team - a new, young team on the Irish tug-of-war scene.
Gus is their coach and when they're straining and panting during a tug-of-war match, Gus is right their beside them - running up and down the rope, shouting, whispering, clapping, groaning - urging them to victory.
When it's all over, no-one is as red-faced or sweaty as Gus - such are his exertions.
Tug-of-war is 'spiritual' for Gus - he's passionate about it and admits he's a bad loser.
He has sworn he'll bring a team from The Burren to an All-Ireland final and he's on his way.
He proudly points to the logo on their crest. It's the Gentian flower - it grows nowhere else in the world but The Burren - and it needs to be tough to survive there.
Gus has his own story to tell too. Hard work and wild times in the UK before coming back.
He worked here as a stonemason for 20 years but says he has been forced out by cheaper foreign labour.
He tried holistic massage which didn't work because women didn't want to go to a man.
Now he's happy to be on a FÁS scheme, strimming graveyards, giving something back to the community.
But little seems to command his enthusiasm like tug-of-war. On a hot Sunday in July, Gus and the team have driven up to Sligo for All-Ireland championships.
The competition doesn't go smoothly - The Burren are arguing among themselves but finally they get to the final, only to be faced with Ireland's tug-of-war heroes: Boley from Wexford.
July 2013
Produced by Ronan Kelly curiousear@rte.ie
'Documentary on One is the home of Irish radio documentaries and the largest library of documentary podcasts available anywhere in the world. We tell stories in sound, mostly Irish ones, and each documentary tells its own story'
Story Credits