There was a young rower from Limerick ...

Glenn Watson | Friday, February 12, 2010 14:00

Did you hear the one about the Irishman who wants to row for New Zealand at the world championships at Karapiro in October?

Enough of the Irish jokes.

Limerick export Sean O'Neill is deadly serious about wearing the silver fern after a few failed attempts.

At 29, he reckons time is running out on his dream.

"This is probably my last chance," said O'Neill, who has been working out with the Central Performance squad on the Whanganui for the past few days building toward the nationals starting at Karapiro on Tuesday.

"There are lot of young guys coming through. I'd love to row for New Zealand and I am -prepared to take a spot in any boat just to get there."

O'Neill is a proud Irish Kiwi, having lived in the country since 1998 when he was a boarder at St Pat's in Wellington. He made the school's first XV rugby team but rowing was a greater attraction.

Leaving college, he headed to Blenheim and began rowing for the Wairau Club, trying to prove himself worthy of a New Zealand singlet.

About five years ago, his dream almost disintegrated when "passport issues"' forced him home.

In 2006 rowing in Ireland was in good health and O'Neill won a place in the national team's coxless four for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. But his heart remained in New Zealand and back he came and hooked up with Wairau again.

The global economic meltdown left a huge hole in Irish rowing and there's no chance O'Neill will wear the emerald green again.

Apart from rowing, he has a job he loves at a Marlborough vineyard.

"I reckon I'm here for good now," he said yesterday.

O'Neill snr likes the place, too. He brought his plumbing skills to New Zealand and worked for a while a few years back, but his wife couldn't settle and home they went.

"He's a big rugby fan. He hopes to be here for the World Cup next year," said O'Neill.

And he may be here even sooner, if his son manages to nail down that silver fern.