TG4 describes its documentary series Finné – “Witness” – as “Netflix-inspired”, so presumably it will eventually be cancelled out of the blue and for no good reason . Until that day there is lots to admire about these understated profiles of Irish people who have gone through tough times and come out stronger.
Following moving accounts of individuals surviving drug addiction and sexual abuse, the penultimate episode of the third season (TG4, 9.30pm) focuses on Olympic boxer Kenneth Egan. The Clondalkin native conquered deep self confidence issues to win a gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Many feel he was cheated out of the gold.
But no sooner had he ascended the podium than he fell off the wagon. And it is the story of his descent into alcoholism and his brave recovery that fuels this engaging and quietly affecting film, narrated by RTÉ courts correspondent, Orla O’Donnell.
Egan comes across as quintessentially Irish in that he is hard-working and focused but plagued by insecurity. He grew up introverted and unsure of himself. But in the boxing ring life made sense. Alas, life also made sense when, from the age of 15, he starting drinking on the street with friends. Alcohol was a key that unlocked part of Egan that had been hidden from the world.
It’s clear where this is going. In order to triumph in the ring Egan had to shush the nagging voices his head. But coming back from Beijing an overnight celebrity was too much for a sensitive young man. He was soon drinking himself numb. “I took the p*** out of the word ‘celebrate’,” he says. “This arrogance: ‘I’m on the beer and that’s the end of it’.”
“It’s hard to deal with being a superstar when people are telling you all the time, ‘oh you’re a great fella.. c’mon, I’ll buy you a pint’,” says sports journalist Evanne Ní Chuilinn, who pops up as a talking head.
“Often they’ve planned nothing,” explains sports psychologist Máire Treasa Ní Cheallaigh of the mindset of athletes trying to readjust to normality. “They say, ‘that’s a long way off’. And I always say, ’it’s not’.”
One of Egan’s lowest ebbs came when he found himself in a pub in Naas, playing pool with a stranger and with little idea as to how he had got there. His mother walked in. “Kenneth, you need help,” she said. It was August 12th, 2010. He hasn’t touched alcohol since.
“I do get thoughts of drinking sometimes,” says Egan in an emotive coda. “Not as much as I used to. My sobriety is my golden egg. When I say I’ll do something, I’ll do it. I tell the truth now. I’m honest … That’s living for me.”
