Owen Heary left Shelbourne having won five League of Ireland titles and has become a vital cog in Bohemians recent back-to-back title successes. The instantly likeable defender spoke to Ger McCarthy recently and gave his thoughts on a number of football related topics.
Born on the 4th of October 1976 in Dublin, Heary made his League of Ireland debut for Kilkenny City at the tender age of 16. Since then he has made a record number of appearances for Shelbourne (274) and will hold the most league titles ever won by an Irish player (8) if his current club Bohemians secure a third successive crown this season.

Why have Bohemians encountered such an indifferent start to the campaign and who do you think your main title rivals will be this season?
Shamrock Rovers, St. Pat’s, Sligo Rovers and Fingal will all be there at the end of the season if they maintain their early season form. Obviously going for three-in-a-row league titles was always going to be difficult and other teams have definitely raised their game this year. It’s up to us to raise ours now and respond as quickly as possible. I have no doubt our results will improve in the months ahead.

It must be reassuring to have a regular wage in the current economic climate. What is your view of what happened to Derry and Cork recently?
Having experienced difficult financial times at Shelbourne it is absolutely heartbreaking to see what has happened at Cork and Derry. You just hope the FAI has sorted it all out. It’s great to see those two clubs bouncing back now though. Many League of Ireland players, including myself, took pay-cuts but we have never missed a payment while I have been at Bohemians.

Pat Fenlon has enjoyed enormous success since taking charge at Bohemians. How would you describe his management style?
Pat’s greatest attribute as a manager is definitely his man-management style. If he has a problem with you he will go and talk to you directly. Pat gets the best out of his players simply by earning their respect. He would go through a brick wall for you and as a result has the respect of every individual in the squad.

What are the Rep. of Ireland's prospects heading into the European Championship qualifiers later this year?
Well I thought we were very unfortunate to miss out on World Cup qualification because of a certain handball by a certain Frenchman! but I believe we could top our next qualifying group with the players we have coming through.

What is your opinion of the Rep of Ireland's policy of recruiting new players using the ‘Grandparents rule’? 
I agree with a lot of other people’s opinion that the likes of Jamie O’Hara (who is a great player) waiting to see if he gets the call up from England before deciding to play for Ireland is wrong. Yet if similar quality players become available they will only improve our squad so why not?

We all want to go to World Cups so make no mistake about it we are in the results business. If our squad is improved by new players and end up qualifying for tournaments people will forget very quickly about the ‘granny rule’.

What are your ambitions for the remainder of the current campaign?
Bohemians want to win the Setanta Cup next so that is our primary focus for now. Another League of Ireland title is something we are obviously aiming for as well and for personal reasons it would mean a lot to set a new record for the number of league championships (8) held by a League of Ireland player.

Interview: Ger McCarthy