Paul O'Neill is a Lismore icon. Mention his name and the majority of locals know him personally of know of him and his family.

Last Tuesday evening, unexpectedly Paul suffered a heart attack and passed away shocking the Lismore and Northern Rivers community. Our love and support goes out to Wendy, Paul Junior & Molly and Victoria.

Paul sat down with the Lismore App in 2019 to tell us his life story, mostly his passion for Lismore, cars, speedway, the Marist Brothers Rams and Rammettes and of course, his family.

This Sunday Profile is a tribute to a Lismore legend, Paul O'Neill.

When Paul was growing up his main passion was cars.

"I never played any other sports, I only raced cars. I was a mad race car driver. I always loved it whilst I was growing up. I started racing when I was 15 and stopped when I was 50.”

Paul went on to win the Super Sedan National Titles in 1982 and 1983, as well as winning a New South Wales Championship. He held the one-lap Super Sedan record at Archerfield for more than 10 years during the 90s, and was even invited to race against the 'Yanks' multiple times.

"I just love cars. They’ve always interested me, and they always will,” he said.

"I started off as a mechanic by trade, and then started working for the Holden dealer in Lismore. I then went on to buy Lismore Nissan 20 years ago. I just really love cars, and that’s what I’ve gone on and worked with my whole life. It’s been great.”

Paul O'Neill was undoubtedly one of the best sedan drivers on the East Coast during the 80s, 90s and early 2000s. Photo: Tony Powell

When Mr O’Neill’s footy-mad son, Paul O’Neill Jnr, was just six years old, his mum Wendy took him down to play for the Marist Brothers. Twenty years later, Paul Jnr now plays hooker for the First Grade side in the NRRRL, while his sister Victoria is playing for the Ramettes in the NRRRL Women’s Tag League.

"It’s great seeing Paul and Victoria play. Paul has been in the First Grade side for three or four years now, he really enjoys it. A lot of those boys, like Tony Gava, Lochie Perren, all those boys have come right through from juniors. It’s great to see the juniors come through over the years, you really need them at the club. Without them, the club wouldn’t survive.”

Paul O'Neill Jr is the First Grade hooker for Marist Brothers Rams. Photo: Ursula Bentley @ CapturedAus

Victoria O'Neill bursts onto the ball for the Ramettes. Photo: Ursula Bentley @Captured Aus

Paul, wife Wendy and their children Victoria and Paul Jr. Photo: Wendy O'Neill / Facebook

Paul Jr works with his mum and dad at Lismore Nissan and Victoria owns Victoria’s Beauty in Magellan St, Lismore.

Being affiliated with the 106-year-old club for about 20 years, Mr O’Neill sees a lot of the things that the Marist Brothers do for the community, which a lot of other people may not.

"I think all clubs are unique in their own way, but for me, I believe that Marist Brothers is a very community minded club. We do a lot of charity work, such as the Relay for Life, and a few years ago we took a young boy with Cerebral Palsy up to the top of Mount Warning. The club always does whatever they can whenever someone’s in need.”

This year, after serving many years on the club’s committees, Mr O'Neill became President of the Marist Brothers, and praises all of the work everybody involved in the club does.

"There’s a lot of good people affiliated with the club, and everyone does a great job. The club wouldn’t function without the help of all the people behind the scenes. On the club’s home games, there’s a lot of things to run, like the bar, the canteen, and getting the grounds ready. Everyone’s always up there early getting set up. Players from all teams help in the canteen too, everyone just has a dig, and that’s what you have to do in local clubs, otherwise they won’t survive.

"Our club consists of young members which makes the future of the Marist Brothers Club very exciting. They are bringing in new ideas and motivation. It is wonderful to see strong numbers within the 2018 U/18’s Marist Brothers Juniors coming into First Grade and the Women's tag team (the Ramettes).

"They are the future of the Marist Club and I hope will ensure it will remain the club it is today."

Paul O'Neill also recognises the hard work put in by trainers, coaches, and other staff to ensure the club is doing well on the field.

"I have the utmost respect and confidence in our coaches for the 2018 season: First Grade coach Michael Woods, Reserve Grade coach Paul Robinson, Under 18’s coach Mark Robotham, and the Ramettes Tag Team coach Hayley McAnnelly,” he said.

Paul and Wendy O'Neill

Marist Brothers Rams have many local sponsors, including Mr O’Neill’s family business Lismore Nissan, The Rous Hotel and Greg Clark Building, all of whom, the club shares a great relationship with.

"All the sponsors are people we know around Lismore, and the vast majority of them have supported us for a long, long time, and we’re very appreciative of our sponsors. It’s getting harder and harder to get sponsors for clubs these days, so we’re very thankful. Everyone heads back to the Rous after games to support their club, as they do ours.”

Paul has been a community member of Lismore since the day he was born. He has seen many things happen to the town, and has watched as it has progressed through the years, somewhat.

"I don’t think we’ve grown. That’s what I think is the biggest issue in Lismore. We need growth, we need growth to survive. We need more jobs, more shops opening up, but it’s just not happening. We need more development, whether that’s subdivisions, or whatever, but we definitely need something to provide more jobs. If you look at other places around here, they’re always growing. There’s builders from here who have been working in Ballina for two years, when really we want them working in Lismore, that’s how small town’s survive.”

Flooding has been a major issue in Lismore for a very long time, affecting businesses and families many times through the years, possibly being a reason the town struggles to grow. In 2017, the town was devastated after the impact of Cyclone Debbie, Lismore’s biggest flood in over 30 years. Mr O’Neill’s business was one of many affected by the flood, and are still recovering one year on.

"I think we’re still struggling after the flood, as well as everyone else who was affected, it cost us a lot of money. The community was very good during the disaster. We had people who we didn’t even know in here helping us clean up, it’s just a fantastic community. I think that’s one of the main reasons we have survived after the flood, the community’s act of kindness. We definitely don’t want any more of them (floods), but I guess that’s the town we live in, so we just have to get on with it.”

You can find Paul O’Neill watching the racing at Lismore Speedway religiously, cooking the best hot chips in the canteen with Wendy at Crozier Park when the Marist Brothers are at home, or running Lismore Nissan every other day.

His driving ambition for the Marist Brothers Rams is to see the club win a Premiership.

"That’s why we do it. Obviously we’d love to win a Grand Final. We will have a red hot crack at it, if we win, great, but if we don’t, life goes on.

"Reserves won and First Grade coach Michael Woods got Coach of the Year in 2017 - that was great.”

Vale Paul.