Paddy Flood - ‘With Oisin’s drinking and stuff, I’ve been there myself’ Oisin Murphy has shown incredible bravery by being so open and honest about his problems ahead of the publication of his book. That is the view of the Irish Angle panel, speaking this week after Murphy’s warts-and-all interview in The Irish Times where he discussed his well-publicised issues with alcohol. Murphy also admitted that he searches himself on social media and reads the criticism on platforms such as X. Voices of Experience: Paddy Flood's Insights Former jockey Paddy Flood urged Murphy to seek further outside help to get to the root of his issues. He explained: “Being a jockey is a tough gig. “You’re in the limelight. Being very good at your job is going to put you in the limelight more than anything. “When Oisin goes home and googles himself, sometimes that’s what makes jockeys really good. “He has so much attention to detail and what people think of him and everyone’s opinion. “But on the flip side of it, that can be horrendous for someone in a bad spot. It can keep you in that spot, it pushes you down in the hole. “With his drinking and stuff, I’ve been there myself. “I don’t say this lightly but if I was Oisin, I’d go and get a test done to see if he has ADD or ADHD or something like that. “I see James McLean did it when his son was diagnosed and it turns out he had. He’s a flawed human as well. “There are a lot worse people on the street than Oisin Murphy in this world. “Fair play to him for coming out with this book. “He’s trusting himself so much on a horse that he makes decisions instinctively and they’re right more often than not. “When he’s at home and has a drink and thinks he’ll have another one and be fine, he believes it. Then all of a sudden, everything changes for him because the demon takes over then.” Perception Of Murphy Not The Truth Flood also suggested the public view of Murphy, who he spent time with in Australia when the four-time British Champion jockey was younger, was different to the reality. “He’s very good with the media but I very much think he’s got a great barrier. I’d say his walls are very thick. “He’s very good at putting on a face and saying the right things at the right time. He only knows how to do that by practising the mask. He’s only fooling himself if he thinks he’ll wake up one morning and stop being that person. “But listen, he’s probably one of the best we’ve ever seen on a horse. He’s exceptionally talented. Flawed, yes. Talented, yes. But show me a great sportsman who is not flawed. “Lester [Piggot], Kieren [Fallon], there wasn’t as much social media and if there had been we’d have heard a lot more stories. “I spent a summer in Australia with Oisín when he was starting out and spent a summer over there riding. He and Kieran Shoemark — two great lads, two talented riders. “Kieran has had flaws too. He comes across nice now but he’s had his troubles. “There isn’t a jockey in the world who has not had a bad day. Jockeys have more bad days than good. You’re going to lose more than you win. “You’re not being paid like a Premier League player. As glamorous as you think it is, it is not that much money for the stress you are being put under. “There is an element, you have to be a little bit mad. The real good ones are able to balance the mad ones with style and sophistication of being calm under pressure. “Racing is still a long way behind big money sports when it comes to looking after their participants. But, to be fair, as a jockey you are self-employed so it’s your job to look after yourself.” ‘Ignore The Idiots’ Racing journalist Johnny Ward urged Murphy to ignore any criticism from social media and instead focus on himself. He said: “I have to say, I was really disappointed by how the whole car incident and how that was handled at the time — the media coverage felt like, ‘nothing to see here.’ I know there were legal issues involved, but he shouldn’t have been interviewed about horses when there was this massive elephant in the room. He documents that in the piece. “I’ve never met the man but I have sympathy for him reading the piece. For me, people don’t have a drink problem, they have a problem they’re trying to avoid by drinking. And if there’s ever been an example of that, it’s Oisin Murphy. “Reading the piece, from my perspective, he’s clearly fundamentally unhappy about something in his life. He sounds like somebody who desperately needs a really strong therapy session. Maybe there’s some childhood trauma or something that he’s running away from. “The level of alcohol abuse he detailed is really shocking. “I couldn’t believe he goes on Twitter to read what people are saying about him. “Even from the perspective of a journalist, if I follow this podcast or any of these podcasts, and I have in the past. There’s some nice comments there but there’s some criticism. “If you’re a jockey, the amount of idiots on social media who are going to call you out when they literally don’t have a clue what they’re doing. There’s no name to them most of the time, of course. “That’s one thing Oisin should do, stop doing that. Actually realise you are a gifted, gifted horseman. “For all the problems that he's had, you’re so, so talented. But it doesn’t matter how many Group Ones you have in a season if you’re not happy. “I don’t know Oisin but I doubt whatever he’s running away from he can’t deal with. “I read the piece, it was a brilliant piece. I felt awfully sorry for him afterwards. “He wasn’t making excuses for himself either. This idea of going home and watching Braveheart twice and drinking himself stupid is sad, really, really sad. “It’s something that really hit me on Saturday reading the piece because he needs help, big time.” Watch The Irish Angle In Full: Or Listen On Spotify:
