Kilkenny hurling legend Richie Power has spoken publicly for the first time about his addiction to gambling. The 36-year-old says that he is now doing well, and still attends Gamblers Anonymous meetings regularly.
"It probably started at a relatively young age, around probably 17, maybe 18, and it would have been very small at the beginning," the eight-time senior All-Ireland winner told BBC Sport NI's The GAA Social podcast.
"Then it just took a hold of me, really, grabbed a hold of me as it has affected so many other people as well.
"It affected me throughout my sporting career. Being an inter-county player, you have so much free time at weekends. You’re not out socialising, you’re trying to maybe fill that void. I would have used gambling as a huge escape, an escapism for me, away from hurling, away from maybe other problems that were going on in my life - injuries, for example.
"Any time I would have broken down injured, it'd spiral that way in my own head thinking nobody would say anything, they were going to feel sorry for me and I feel sorry for myself.
"It just had a huge impact on me personally both mentally and physically. I was hurling with Kilkenny and all this was going on in the background. You’re trying to manifest a life that is perfect and great whereas at the back of it you’re in complete turmoil and fighting with it.
"Knowing that I was struggling with an addiction but not being strong enough to ask for help or go home and sit down with my parents and family, not being man enough to do that.
"I just tried to hide it and continued on down that long, lonely, dark road until I eventually couldn’t go any further at the end of 2013."
This is the most powerful podcast yet. Richie Power has won 12 inter-county All-Ireland’s with @KilkennyCLG - a hurling icon. Today, for the first time, Richie reveals he suffers from a gambling addiction. Honestly beyond words. This is his story.. https://t.co/Z2A6AtJ6a2
— Thomas Niblock (@thomasniblock) March 22, 2022
After Power's club Carrickshock lost the 2013 Kilkenny Senior Hurling Championship final to Clara, and he was dropped from the Kilkenny panel, the situation came to a head.
"I didn't have a good season with my club," said Power.
"I probably didn't have a good year with Kilkenny in 2013 either, with all of this going on in the background as well.
"I just remember having a meeting with the lads a week after the senior county final. I remember it because I spent the whole week after it on the beer, just drowning the sorrows. I remember going into Hotel Kilkenny to meet Brian [Cody] and the lads that Monday night.
"My career wasn't finished coming out of the meeting but it was solely put in my hands if I wanted to put on Kilkenny jersey again that I needed to sort things off the field. I was dropped without being officially dropped.
"I won’t say [Brian Cody] was aware of how bad things were, but he was aware of my gambling. That kind of led to everything coming out at home, sitting down with my mam and dad, my brother and sister. Everything was put on the table and luckily enough the GPA were a huge help."
27 September 2014; Kilkenny's Richie Power celebrates with his son Rory after the game. GAA Hurling All Ireland Senior Championship Final Replay, Kilkenny v Tipperary. Croke Park, Dublin. Picture credit: Brendan Moran / SPORTSFILE
Power's father, Richie Snr - also an All-Ireland winner with Kilkenny - contacted Armagh former footballer Oisín McConville who had been through and recovered from a gambling addiction. McConville, an addiction counsellor, is the co-host of The GAA Social podcast, and appeared on the episode with Power and Thomas Niblock.
"I remember me and Dad drove up to the Carrickdale Hotel that Christmas to sit down with Oisín for a couple of hours to talk," said Power.
"That was the start of the road to recovery. There were bumps along the way but that was where I had to make a decision. Keep going down that road on my own or sit down and talk about it and manage or arrest it.
"I’ll always be a gambling addict but as long as you keep doing the right things it doesn’t have to affect the rest of your life.
"2014 and 2015 were probably the only two years in a Kilkenny jersey that I didn’t have this going on in the background.
"It was a hard journey because the guilt and the shame that I felt I was after bringing to dad and mam, and letting them down - that's how I really felt about the whole thing. It's hard to let go of that. I'd still find myself thinking that, and thinking back, feeling like that.
"On the surface, people would look in seeing you're winning All-Irelands year-in, year-out - ‘What could possibly be wrong in this guy’s life?’ Deep down, I certainly was in turmoil.
"When my family found out, I could only assume it was really hard on them as well. I couldn’t say how supportive my family were about it.
"It was just a case of trying to arrest the addiction. It’ll always be part of who I am. The big thing I learned over the years of recovery is you try not to let it define you. I’m trying not to, but it’s a struggle. You try and learn from it and obviously be a better person from it.”
Power added that he is continuing to do "all the right things".
"Get to the meetings on a weekly basis," he said
"We have a great group in Kilkenny. It was funny, I started my meetings in Dublin because I was getting help through the GPA. I could never see myself going to [meetings in] Kilkenny because I was afraid that everybody would know me. Deep down, everyone knew anyway that I was struggling."
If you, or someone you know, is affected by the issues in this article, you can visit ProblemGambling.ie for information on how to get help.
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