Fermanagh footballer Lee Cullen on his new life Down Under, and thoughts on Fermanagh football

They got out just in the nick of time, as shortly afterwards Covid-19 hit Ireland, and everything ground to a halt.

Australia has welcomed thousands of Irish people, and there are many people from Fermanagh working and living there.

Fermanagh teammates, Ryan Lyons and Ciaran McBrien also travelled to Australia at the same time as the 27-year-old.

Lee, who is currently living in Sydney, talked to Ciarán Flaherty about how life has been since the move, and shares his thoughts on Fermanagh’s 2020 season and what the future holds.

CF: HOW has it been since moving to the other side of the world?

LC: It’s been a whirlwind, that’s probably how I would best describe it.

It feels surreal when I look back and realise that I’m already more than a year out here.

When I first came over here, a few different people told me that time would fly out here and I can confirm that is definitely the case!

My lifestyle is considerably different than the one I was living back in Dublin. I probably think the weather in Australia is the main reason for that – we basically get six months of Summer over here, and the Winters are relatively mild.

That fortunately means that there is no shortage of things to do.

Overall, it has been a very enjoyable experience. Making the move ‘Down Under’ has definitely taught me a lot about myself; I think most people who have moved out here would say the same – it forces you to get out of your comfort zone, to make new friends, find a job, find somewhere to live, adapt to a new culture.

These are things you take for granted back home, and I would generally recommend it to everyone to take the risk and experience life out here in Australia, whenever things return to normal.

ARE you working at the minute?

YES, I’m working as a data engineer for a relatively small tech start-up. They’ve decided to sponsor me, so I have the option to stay out here for a maximum of two additional years if I want that.

The Australian work culture is something that has been very enjoyable to experience. They put a massive emphasis on work-life balance, which is something that I think European countries could learn from.

WAS it a tough decision to leave, and do you have any regrets?

IT WAS very tough. Leaving family and friends behind was hard, especially that it was so soon after Christmas, but at the same time I knew that it wasn’t a permanent move, which made it easier in a way.

In fairness to everyone, they were very supportive of my decision, and I think my family are grateful that I am somewhat removed from the harsh reality of living with Covid-19. Australia has got a good handle on the pandemic.

Leaving football behind was equally as tough. I am very aware that playing for Fermanagh is not something that lasts forever, so knowing that I am probably away during the prime years of my GAA career is something that sits in the back of my mind.

Inter county was a big part of my life in the seven years before I moved over here, and in a way it was also a big part of my identity, but there is more to life than football – even though at home there were large periods of time where it didn’t feel like that.

Belnaleck coming good in the past couple of years also made it that bit harder to leave but, fortunately, I’m pretty sure that I’ll have plenty of seasons to play with Belnaleck when I get home. No regrets.

ARE you playing or taking part in any GAA out there?

I’M PROBABLY more active than I ever have been. Covid has allowed me to spend more time than I usually would doing exercise.

I have also hooked up with a local GAA team, called Penrith Gaels.

2020 was also a tough year for us; we got knocked out at the group stage of the championship without winning a game, but I’ve got got to know lads from all over the country, so I wouldn’t say the year is a total write-off.

The standard of football is better than I expected; there are players of high calibre like Dara McVeety from Cavan, Stephen Attride from Laois, Danny Cummins from Galway and Paddy O’Rourke from Meath, to name just a few all plying their trade out here, so competition is healthy.

On top of this, I’m spending a lot of time doing individual training in the gym, or as part of Ryan Lyon’s fitness company, ‘Surefit Sydney’, that he recently set up.

The Australian culture puts a big emphasis on an active lifestyle, so there is no shortage of things to do – AFL, surfing and bush walks are only three things I intend to try out before my time here in Australia comes to an end.

WHAT does your normal week look like?

A LOT of my week is usually spent in my apartment, because I work from home four out of the five days.

That may sound kind of dull, but the apartment block has a gym and a rooftop pool, so there are plenty of reasons to break up the day.

As I already mentioned, Ryan Lyons runs fitness classes over here, so on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday, we do that in the local park.

Tuesday and Thursday is when I usually have GAA training.

At the weekend, you could find me doing a mixture of things, such as camping, playing football etc.

We also do plenty of day trips as New South Wales has plenty of touristy regions, like Hunter Valley, which is wine country; Blue Mountains, aational park; and other seaside towns.

If the weather is good, then we spend a lot of time at the beach, as Sydney is in no short supply of them.

Also, Banty [Ciaran McBrien] likes to keep himself looking tanned the natural way, which is something that he has battled with over the last couple of years.

THERE seems to be a large Fermanagh contingent out there. Does it make it feel like a home away from home?

MYSELF and my girlfriend Gemma have recently moved into an apartment with Ciaran McBrien and Danielle Maguire, which was a financial decision – the rent in Sydney isn’t exactly cheap – so we are obviously around each other a lot.

Most people out here live in one-bed apartments, which is what we all did for the first year.

Moving out here with Ciaran and Ryan has definitely made it a lot easier than it would have been if we came out here on our own.

We also keep in contact with a lot of other Fermanagh people, as there are quite a few of us out here.

We have a Facebook group where we organise meet-ups and other social events, so in a way it is like home away from home.

WHAT has it been like living out there, compared to Fermanagh, with how Sydney is experiencing Covid-19?

LIFE here in Sydney during Covid appears to be quite different to what people are experiencing back home.

The predicted first wave in cases never really hit here as bad as it did in Ireland.

The country put in place restrictive measures pretty early and, in fairness to the people in charge over here, they’ve done an excellent job of curtailing the impact of the pandemic.

We are reaping the benefits now because of the government’s response; we never had to go into a full lockdown like Ireland did, so my life isn’t as impacted as I would have expected.

My day to day life isn’t really hugely affected either, apart from the fact that I’ve been working from home since March.

I can leave my house whenever I want, and I can travel anywhere I want, as long as it is within New South Wales borders.

Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for our ‘neighbours’ down in Melbourne.

I have a few mates down there, and they tell me life was pretty bleak when the disease got out of control, but thankfully they are coming out the other side of that now.

It’s strange when I hear what it is like living back home [with Covid-19 restrictions]; I stay in regular contact with my brother, Che, who was there during Christmas, and a few other close friends.

Their stories come across as quite alien to me; I never had to go through what they experienced.

As a young person, I can only pretend to know what other young people have felt like during lockdown; frustration and loneliness are two obvious sentiments that come to mind.

I do fear how this pandemic will impact the mental wellbeing of people, particularly my own generation.

We can only hope that the people in charge back home do their utmost to provide the services needed to mitigate this issue.

It’s also a time for people to come together, even when we can’t physically; something as simple as picking up the phone and calling a friend that you haven’t maybe talked to in a while can go a long way.

These are the little things that can make getting through this that bit easier.

Even though life over here is easier than it would be if I was at home, there is a part of me that wishes I was back in Fermanagh.

Of course, I miss family and friends, and I do my best to keep in regular contact with them.

The time difference between here and Ireland unfortunately makes this quite difficult at times.

Covid, on the other hand, has made this [lifestyle here] easier; I have a lot more time to myself compared to if I was in the office 9-5 Monday to Friday.

Time that I would have previously spent commuting is now used to call home, or to get mum to give me a quick cooking demonstration via a video call – I make a decent soda bread now – and sometimes get an extra hour in bed.

I also find the odd hour or two to jump on the PlayStation and have a few games with friends in Ireland.

It’s things like this that keep the homesickness at bay.

LOOKING back on Fermanagh last season, what was your opinion? Did you miss pulling on the green jersey?

I DIDN’T think I’d miss the county set-up as much as I have; however, when I initially decided to walk away from the panel and spend a year or two abroad, I did feel quite relieved, as if a pressure was lifted off my shoulders.

Inter-county is now a huge commitment, and I have great respect for anyone who is willing to give up the volume of time required.

I probably realised towards the latter end of 2019 that there was a dissatisfaction for football starting to build from my perspective, and I think that was largely brought about by the amount of time I was spending on the road travelling to and from training or games.

Now that I have spent more than a year removed from that environment, I have started to realise all the things that made me want to represent Fermanagh in the first place, so it’s nice to now have that refreshed outlook for the game.

I was quite annoyed with how the GAA treated the Fermanagh panel over the Clare game, and I’m sure most other Fermanagh people felt the same way too – it was completely unfair.

It was tough, watching on from a distance as the situation unravelled, but in fairness to Ricey [Ryan McMenamin] and the boys, they went down there and did the county proud, despite the circumstances.

2020 was a tough year for Fermanagh football; we haven’t really been dealt a huge amount of luck, but knowing Ricey and having played with the majority of the current panel, I have full confidence that they will bounce back this year.

There is a lot of young talent coming through in Fermanagh, so we have reason to be optimistic about the future.

Fellas like Johnny Cassidy, Darragh McGurn and Lorcan McStravick are going to big players for Fermanagh over the next decade, so it is good to see lads like this getting so much game time at such a young age.

I also thought that Josh Largo Ellis from Irvinestown was a great find last year.

AS FOR the future, how long do you intend to stay in Australia?

THAT’S something I can’t answer, because I don’t know myself, to be honest.

All I know is that it doesn’t make sense to go back at the minute.

With Covid still wreaking havoc, I think I would struggle to find work in my industry right now back in Ireland.

I’d also probably have to move back in with my parents if I were to move back now, as Dublin doesn’t appeal to me any more.

That’s something I haven’t done in nearly nine years, and I don’t think I want to put them through that experience again.

Who knows what the next year has in store, especially with the current circumstances, so I’m happy enough to just play it as it comes for now.

I can’t see myself travelling elsewhere; whenever I decide that my time in Australia is done, that will be that – I’ll probably want to find somewhere in Ireland to settle down.