‘I WOULDN’T have gone back if I didn’t feel I still had something to offer Cork football,’ Ruairí Deane insists.

His decision was shaped as much by belief as by unfinished business.

He will turn 35 this September, but the Bantry man is not here to make up the numbers. Deane still feels he can make a difference on the pitch, adding to a Cork team on the rise.

‘John Cleary would be ruthless enough to tell me if I didn’t! So whether it’s on match day or in training, I feel I can contribute and bring a bit of experience.’

But Deane’s return to the inter-county carousel is also made possible by the support he has at home. His wife Niamh is the real hero of this story, he says.

Together, they have three children – Setanta (5), Cairbre, who turns four in May, and Sorcha, who will be one in June – so home is busy. Now living in Adrigole, with a house being built in Castletownbere, life off the pitch is as demanding as anything on it.

‘It’s a busy house, to be fair,’ he says.

That’s where the call was made to return to the Cork set-up again in 2025, continuing a senior inter-county story that began 12 seasons earlier in 2014, and a journey that has seen him rack up over 100 appearances for his county.

‘Ultimately, the decision is at home. I have a wife, three kids and a two-hour commute, so there are sacrifices from a family point of view,’ says Deane, who is also acting vice-principal at Scoil Phobail Bhéara in Castletownbere.

‘If she’s happy for me to go back – which she was – that makes the decision easier. We had our third child the week after the Dublin game last year, and I got injured that same week.

‘If I had finished on that note, I probably would have had some regret. That gave me motivation.’

Ruairí Deane celebrates after Cork defeated Tyrone to secure promotion back to Division 1 of the national football league. (Photo: Oliver McVeigh/Sportsfile)

Deane didn’t want to bow out on a low note.

‘I also wasn’t happy with how I was performing last year. Even at this stage, you want to get the most out of yourself – and I felt I still had something to offer Cork football,’ he says.

‘At the end of every season, it comes down to this: is your body right, and are you good enough? That’s the decision. But the bigger factor is family – because when you’re gone three or four nights a week, or away for a weekend, it’s your wife who carries that load.

‘For me, it’s an easy decision; for her, it’s probably a tougher one.’

The stats from Cork’s successful Division 2 campaign, when they achieved their target of promotion, strengthen Deane’s assertion that he has more to give.

The Bantry man started the opener against Cavan, replaced by his Blues club-mate Dara Sheedy on his league debut. Deane was then used as an impact sub in every game since – first off the bench against Louth, Offaly, Meath and Kildare; introduced at half-time away to Derry; second on in the promotion clincher against Tyrone; and again called upon in the league final in Croke Park.

‘Yeah, it is satisfying, within reason. But you’re always asking more of yourself,’ he explains.

‘Are you saying I should be happy with 15 minutes? I’m happy, but I’m not content. Everyone in the panel is pushing for game time, I’m no different; I want 70 minutes the same as anyone.

‘That competition is healthy, even if it’s challenging for management. You’ve lads coming in after big club seasons pushing hard, and then more experienced players doing the same.

‘That’s what drives success. So yeah, I’m happy, but always looking for more. And everyone in the panel has to be the same.

‘If you’re just happy with where you are, that’s a problem. Everyone should be asking: how do I get better? How do I keep my place? How do I push on? That’s the standard we need.’

At 34, Deane is conscious this won’t last forever, but he is driven by what he can still offer this group. He has lived through every stage of inter-county football – not starting, becoming a regular, a cruciate injury, dropping off the panel, earning a recall. Now, he finds himself in a different role: impact sub. Last year, the experienced forward was used in five of Cork’s six championship games.

‘At this stage, it’s about what you can offer, in terms of experience, leadership and performance. Because ultimately, performance is what matters,’ Deane explains.

‘We’re all a bit selfish in that sense – everyone wants to perform at the highest level. But you also have to be realistic about what you can offer at any given time.’

He takes satisfaction in Cork’s promotion back to Division 1, but stresses it is just one step on a longer journey. Deane lined out in Cork’s last top-flight league game – a loss away to Kerry in April 2016. Brian Hurley, Brian O’Driscoll and Ian Maguire all featured that day, and all played their part again in the recent promotion-clinching win away to Tyrone.

Afterwards, Deane and Hurley shared an embrace on the pitch: mission accomplished. Cork were back, promoted after a decade in the doldrums, including a season in Division 3.

But Deane’s feet won’t leave the ground. There is still a job to do, and Cork have bigger ambitions than promotion from Division 2.

‘There were absolute scenes at the end of the Tyrone game, celebrating and all that, but ultimately that’s just the group getting themselves back to where they are,’ he says.

‘Individually, for me, there’s very little satisfaction in that unless you kick on and take the next step. It’s not about myself, or Maguire, Hurley or O’Driscoll – it’s about the team, the unit, and developing a platform for Cork GAA.

‘Is there satisfaction in years to come if you achieve something? Yeah, maybe. But we set our stall out at the start of the year to get promotion to Division 1, and that box has been ticked, thankfully. Still, there’s nothing really achieved as such, and we’ve a lot left to do for the rest of the year, hopefully.’

Dr Con Murphy presented Bantry Blues footballer Ruairí Deane with a framed photo to mark his 100th game for Cork senior footballers in 2025.

The next chapter in the season begins this Sunday in Páirc Uí Chaoimh, when Cork take on Limerick in a Munster SFC quarter-final. The Rebels have an opportunity to reach a first provincial final since 2021, with Kerry on the opposite side of the draw. A first Munster senior football title since 2012 will also be a target.

The league – and the final loss to Meath – have been parked, with the learnings carried into the battles ahead.

‘The championship will humble you very quickly if you don’t refocus,’ Deane stresses.

‘At the end of the day, you’re not going to look back on getting promoted from Division 2 to Division 1 as a highlight of your career or your season.

‘If we have ambitions as a group – and we clearly do – we’ve got to set our stall out now for the championship, and that’s not long coming around.

‘We’ve a tough test in Limerick. They are the sole focus. Obviously there’s a bigger picture – no different to the league, where we looked at blocks of games while keeping promotion as the overall goal. But we’re not looking beyond the Limerick game at the same time.’

Deane points to different moments in league games as sliding doors moments in a season. That late come-from-behind victory against Cavan in the opener. Or 14-man Cork holding off Meath in a top-of-the-table clash at Páirc Uí Rinn. Cork came through both.

‘You’re only minutes, even seconds, away from not achieving your target,’ Deane says.

‘We’re a team that’s constantly learning. You’re always only a 10 or 15-minute spell away from being pulled back again.

‘At this stage of my career, you learn valuable lessons performing at a high level. You’re never as good as people say you are, and you’re never as bad either – you meet somewhere in the middle.

‘If we can take the good with the bit of bad that will come, minimise those dips, and regain momentum quickly, then we’ll be a good outfit for most teams.’

And when Ruairí the footballer lands home after a match, regardless of the outcome, he’s Ruairí the dad and Ruairí the husband. That’s the reality that keeps him grounded.

‘At home, the kids don’t really understand it yet. They might someday, but right now they just want to play – they don’t care about Croke Park. And that’s a challenge too, because football is the thing that takes their dad away.

‘So it’s about balance, and explaining it as best you can. But it also helps – after a big game, win or lose, you’re up at 7am and it’s straight back into family life. That keeps you grounded.’

When he arrives back home on this Sunday night, Deane hopes Cork are up and running towards their next objective, and that he played his part, proving that his decision to go again was the right one.