Sports star Conor Cusack, who can be credited with raising awareness of mental health in Ireland, yesterday revealed he is gay in a blog post entitled ‘To Thine Own Self Be True’.
The ex-GAA star made headlines last year when he wrote about his battle with depression and subsequently gave a moving interview on PrimeTime.
Conor, brother of former Cork goalkeeper Donal Óg Cusack, said that his sexuality was not something that contributed to the struggles he encountered with his mental health, “I can honestly say that concerns with my sexuality had little, if nothing, to do with the distress I had in my life then.
It was only when he began to feel well again that he started to explore this side of him, explaining in the post that; “I’ve known for a good while now that I was attracted to men.”
“In that time, I’ve had relationships with women, and enjoyed them immensely but I’ve always had more fulfilment from being with a man” he said.
“I have never denied anything about this part of my life because no one has ever asked me the question” the 34-year-old said, making reference to the fact that he has not spoken about his sexuality before.
“I often use Shakespeare’s quote in my talks ‘To thine own self be true so to no man can thoust ever be false again’.”
“By me talking about this part of my life, I am being true to myself but more importantly right now, I am being true to all of those people that I am interacting with on a daily basis.
“I am being true to those countless people that send me letters and e-mails and ring me telling me about parts of their lives that they have been terrified to ever discuss with anyone else.
“I couldn’t continue to feel authentic meeting and talking to these people and continuing to do the work that I am doing without being able to be fully open and honest about all aspects of my life.”
The blog post can be read in full here and we strongly recommend doing so.
For anyone who wishes to talk, Pieta House are always willing to listen and can be contacted at 01 601000.
