Bernard’s Dublin impact

THE boxing gloves are firmly hung up and the shorts and boots tucked away in the wardrobe, but there is still an intense competitiveness in Bernard Dunne’s voice when you speak to him, six years after he announced his retirement.
His current role with the Dublin GAA senior football team may play a part in that but even still, you can just tell that when it comes to achieving or event just competing, the Neilstown man is serious.
Speaking at the launch of the Lunchtime Mile for National Workplace Wellbeing Day, of which he is an official Ambassador, GazetteSport caught up with Dunne and he did not disappoint.
His title in Jim Gavin’s backroom team is Sports Performance and Lifestyle Coach and we asked exactly what his work entails. “I am basically there to help Jim in anyway shape or form,” said Dunne.
“If Jim asks me to put the bib on and be Maor Uisce I’ll do it, if he wants me to have a chat with certain players, I’ll do it.”
When Gavin brought Dunne in to be part of the senior backroom team three years ago, he said he was there to help players realise their potential, something the former world champion is extremely passionate about.
“Apart from my work with Dublin, I travel up and down the country speaking to young people about their potential,” he said.
“The big message I try to get across is not to be afraid to try things; I see that as a big problem in this country.
“I can relate that back to why I’m delighted to be the ambassador for the National Workplace Wellbeing Day on April 8,” added Dunne. “This year’s Lunchtime Mile, for example, is an event to get people to do something different at work.
“It’s not about saying you’re going to lose this amount of weight or reach these big targets, it’s about taking small, realistic steps that will change your life and give you confidence to achieve even greater goals.”
When a former world champion begins to speak so poignantly about not being afraid to chase your dreams or ambitions, it’s hard to intervene and the 36-year-old added: “If somebody wants to be something or do something, you shouldn’t be put off by what other people say.
“This is particularly true with young people, if you want to go out and do something, do it, don’t listen to people who knock you back.
“After the Kiko Martinez fight, I got a fair bit of bad press but you can’t listen to it. Two years later, I was a world champion,
“I don’t believe in losing, there’s going to be bumps along the way but it’s about adapting and getting back on track.”