Mayo native Keating looking to the future

It has been a turbulent time for Ruairi Keating off the pitch but he hopes to make his late father proud following a transfer to St Patrick’s Athletic.

Ruairi, who grew up in Westport, enjoyed a fruitful campaign in front of goal, scoring 15 goals in all competitions, but it paled in significance after he tragically lost his father Ciaran in a traffic accident near Swinford.

He made an incredible return to play for Cork City as he scored a hat trick against Sligo Rovers on his first outing back since his father’s death. However, he was unable to prevent Cork City from being relegated to the League of Ireland First Division as City lost to Waterford in a play-off, with injury ruling him out of the playoff.

The decision to make the move to St Pats was a tough one given the support the club gave him in a dark period of his life but he felt he had to do what was best for his career and to also make his father proud.

“I had a small baby and wanted to be close to my mam (Annemarie) and dad. I came back to Galway (United) because it was close to home,” Ruairi told the Irish Independent, referencing his stint with Galway after returning home from England after frustrating spells with English non-league sides Torquay and Gateshead.

“It was under the radar, nobody knew what was going on or anything about me. I was finding my feet and figuring things out. The opportunity to come to Cork City was one that I looked at as a platform to go and show what I could do it. Colin Healy and Richie Holland and the staff allowed me to do that, they believed in me and pushed me every day and saw something in me that I maybe didn’t see in myself.

“Cork City is a wonderful football club, and I had a wonderful two years but with everything that’s happened to me and my family this year, how much my dad meant to me and how much he loved my football, this has really taught me that you’ve got to make sure you take every opportunity you get to make the most of it, because you only have one chance and I want to keep making him proud. I know exactly how he would feel right now. That’s really my motivation going forward.” The decision to leave City was further compounded as his daughter was pre-school. Had the club stayed up, he likely would still be with them.

“It’s really difficult because with the way things happened, I came back to try and help the club,” offered Ruairi.

“It was very difficult for me to come back and play but they had been so good to me and I know how much it meant to my family, me being happy down here playing football. In the play-off when I got that injury and couldn’t continue, it was heartbreaking for me that it was out of my control.

“But I guess that’s football, you can never be too settled. The question this year for me was could he do it in the Premier?” “I wanted to grab it with both hands and show everybody on the biggest stage in the country exactly what I could do.” Ruairi added: “Pressure comes with everything. But with everything that’s happened to me in my life, especially this year, none of that really matters any more. When you’re going through things that I went through, you kind of just give up on life a little bit, I lost my way. But now, knowing what I can do, I can really push my game to the next level. I have so much more to give.”