BY BRIAN MCDAID
As a child he watched the cars line up outside his front door in Illistrin to start the Trentagh Special Stage on the Donegal, and this year he will be living the dream.
Seventeen-year-old Oisin McShane still can’t legally drive on the public road unaccompanied but because of the structure of events catered for young rally drivers, this is the third year that Mc Shane will be competing in rallying, starting off in 2023 in the RSA programme with his father Fabian (a very experienced navigator), calling the notes.
Oisin has rallied all over Ireland and further afield in Europe on ice and in the snow as part of the J100 programme in his trusty VW Up.
He is more than ready to compete in his home event for the first time this weekend.
On Saturday evening this young Donegal driver gave the weekend’s recce a miss because of a family bereavement but will get a chance to look at the stages and make notes on them this week ahead of the rally at the weekend with his navigator Niall Myers from Kerry in their Peugeot 208 Rally 2.
McShane was behind the wheel on the way to compete in the Munster Rally with his father Fabian when the entry list was released at the rally press conference back in Letterkenny a few Fridays ago.
At that stage he was fifth or sixth on the reserve list. Now he has progressed to the main list at number 177. For Oisin this makes everything feel so real.
Donegal International is the one everyone wants to compete in and on Friday morning he will be living the dream.
“My father and mother Fabian and Patricia have believed and supported me on this journey so far, and without them I wouldn’t be here.”
Oisin’s mother Patricia is a member of the Corry family from Illistrin and his father Fabian is a proud Kilcar man who are supporting their son through the family business IHeating and Cooling LTD along with a few other local sponsors which Oisin is very thankful for.