It was planned well in advance and because of what was involved, there was no turning back, even as Louth’s season reached new heights. It wasn’t, he stressed, like putting off a week’s holiday to Spain.
Sharkey wanted a change, a better balance to a life consumed by work and sport. He’s a plumber by trade and plumbers, like any tradespeople, can’t work remotely. Nor can they be all that flexible when sites have specific times of operation.
Being a tradesperson and an inter-county player are less compatible than ever. They are becoming fewer in number.
Last year the Dublin hurler Conor Donohoe opted to take himself out of that cycle of early mornings and big physical investment to focus more on his sport.
A carpenter, the Erin’s Isle man took up a position in Beneavin College in Finglas as a woodwork and construction teacher, easier on the body and the clock.
The decision was made purely with his hurling career in mind.
“It was tough on the tools,” he admits. “Last year I was fully on the tools. It was tough to stay fresh. Getting up at half six on a Monday morning was tough.
“It’s physical. There are not many lads doing it. There are no other trades lads on the team. It was tough but I took a break to get the focus on recovery and getting the body right during the week.”
It’s a big call to make at 25 but then Donohoe has felt an improvement and wants to see how far he can take a career at senior inter-county level that has not followed the more conventional path through minor and U-20 teams.
“I had no ambitions but I was very focused on playing club and enjoying it. I played football when I was younger. Obviously, when I got on the [hurling] panel two years ago it was like, something is going to have to change here if I am going to compete. Listen, it was change for the better. It has helped me improve the recovery side if nothing else.”
At 22 he went into a development squad, under the current Dublin U-20 manager Shane O’Brien, aimed at bridging the gap to senior inter-county for players who may have been off the radar.
Three years on he is centre-back for a Dublin team that jumped ahead of Galway and Wexford this year to make a Leinster final.
“There was no harm going in to see what it is was like. It’s funny, that year [2022] four off the development squad played for the seniors. There are still lads, myself and Darragh Power, coming through. It’s been worthwhile.
“Personally, I wouldn’t have taken myself by surprise because I know I was capable. It is just a nice surprise to be pulled in and played. I was never sour or anything like that. I was doing my own thing. Playing club and enjoying that. It wasn’t like I was missing out. Obviously you want to play but it wasn’t something I was involved in.”
Now he is and under Micheál Donoghue some progress has been made though the heavy Leinster final defeat to Kilkenny has put a cloud over them now, ahead of this weekend’s All-Ireland quarter-final against Cork.
“Kilkenny were coming for a performance over the last couple of weeks and they got it,” reflects Donohoe.
“It was unfortunate we were on the end of it. Like I said, the first 14 minutes were tough but we’ll get a reaction. Getting to the Leinster final, no one would have expected it. Everyone was saying Galway, Kilkenny and Wexford would be the three out of Leinster. That wasn’t the case. We believed that we were good enough to do that and that is what got us there.
“It’s ultimately disappointing but we still have a strong belief in the group and it’s a young squad. This will be invaluable over the next couple of years.
“We are starting to believe in ourselves,” he adds. “Not that previous teams haven’t [believed]. Dublin teams have but this group is relatively new. A band of brothers, that’s what it’s turning into.”
