Dan McDonnell

you know, he doesn't, I think when he goes back there, like he doesn't have influences in his life that could take him away from the, from that grounded roots.

And it probably, it probably stands to him in this sort of crazy, you know, the crazy football world that we inhabit that he, I don't know, he's not, he's not living in a sort of an apartment in London and sort of in a, in a different world, you know?

Yeah, I didn't know.

A toilet seat down, yeah.

It's just obviously just to get a bit of a... The place he's from as well, I mean, it's never warmer than 10 degrees there, ever.

Maybe 10 to 12 degrees, and it's the windiest part of Iceland.

um so i mean it's to say it's weather beaten you know like it's it's you know months of the year the ferry doesn't operate you know his best mate was talking about the trips to the mainland with hamer where they would just they would go to a special place down below the car deck and just sort of bunk down there him and his friend john oley and that was their life going over and back and these bumpy ferries people getting sick all around them just to go and play football or whatever yeah

It's just such a different football background to a lot of the people, the space that we inhabit.

Oh, no, the opposite.

See, the thing is, I met his... So I was over for the Shamrock Rovers game in December, and I met a very helpful guy there who recommended I go and speak to this chef.

But he just said he was the chef of the Euro 2016 team.

I didn't realize until I got there that the chef...

is um like the chef's father-in-law is hamer's brother you know so like he's basically he's and his wife his wife to be used to be the dental assistant in hamer's clinic okay you know like so like it's all everyone knows everyone so i spoke to the brothers and i sort of felt a little bit like i was intruding but i was told listen they meet every morning and this like officer's mess like this place in the clubhouse for the puff and catcher's club he rang his brother can they come tomorrow

yeah fine i i met the brothers he was like why didn't you tell us earlier you were coming you could have could have come and met hamer's wife in the house i was like what i was like no that would have been i could just imagine hamer here i could just imagine hamer hearing about this going no but like you know that's my favorite chair what but we

but you know we'd have this thing sometimes and we're probably used to it we feel like just if you're in the same hotel as the Ireland players sometimes you're overstepping someone's personal space but as family members we're more like oh I mean you should have just told us you could have just you know you could have gone to the family home I can just imagine Hamer getting a call being told there's a couple Irish media sitting in the living room I think we ended up outside his house at one point he was like no I don't feel comfortable like recording or doing something here so yeah anyway

Thank you, Joe.

I really appreciate your sincere greeting.

I have been working, by the way, to be fair.

You know, just doing some journalism.

Not everything needs to be instant, Joe.