In a West Cork Minute - Ian Pickering

Leeside FC’s Ian Pickering (a professional kitchen fitter by trade), and Dan McSweeney, led the West Cork Schoolboys League to an 18th overall finish at this year’s Kennedy Cup. Ian chats penguins, raves and Emily Thompson …

What’s the one thing you can’t live without? My kids. Football comes in second!

What would I find in your fridge right now? Milk, butter and a cucumber that’s not been used as of yet. 

Name one element your sport could/should take from another? Better respect for referees, similar to what they have in rugby. A lot of it is down to coaches and how they teach their players to respect the match officials.

What do you think about when you’re alone in your car? I’m usually singing but thinking about my kids. I will sing along to absolutely anything that comes on the radio. From 1940s swing band to rave music … I was a bit of a raver!

Who has been the biggest influence on your sporting career (and why)? My dad. He always asked if I enjoyed myself first before enquiring about any result. That’s the key to it all, isn’t it? Enjoyment before anything else.

Pick two celebrities to be your parents: Tom Cruise because he is just so cool and Emily Thompson, the English actress; not Emily Watson, definitely Emily Thompson.

What do you think cats dream of? Easy, they dream of milk because they always seem to be licking...

If you could play any other sport for one day what would it be? Cricket – it takes a lot of thought and effort to play that game.

If you joined a circus, what would you perform? I’d definitely be a clown because you could just go nuts around the place for free. That would definitely be easy for me.

If you could get rid of one county in Ireland what would it be and why? Kerry because they beat us 2-0 in the SFAI Kennedy Shield final last week.

What would you do if you found a penguin in your freezer? I would cut it up, eat it and see what it tastes like. (When informed the penguin isn’t actually dead Ian replied, ‘Well, I’d have to kill it first, I suppose.’)

Before we let you go, teach us something that we don’t know: I suppose I could teach you how to be a first-class kitchen fitter!