IN ALL FAIRNESS - Dillon Quirke won’t be far from peoples minds on county final day

The memory of Dillon Quirke will cast a shadow over the 2022 Tipperary senior hurling championship, long after the Dan Breen Cup is given a new home on Sunday evening, provided it doesn’t end in a draw after sixty minutes as it will then go to a replay.

This years senior championship hasn’t produced the excitement and drama of the last two campaigns, but maybe that’s for the best as Dillon’s untimely passing has left a void for this year than doesn’t need filling in.

Whenever you look towards the Town End goal at Semple Stadium, it is hard not thinking back to that fateful August Friday evening when Dillon laid his head to rest for the final time in the green and gold of his beloved Clonoulty/Rossmore in their county championship clash with Kilruane MacDonaghs.

One wondered when the rawness passed and it was time to get back playing, would Dillon’s passing galvanise Clonoulty to go on and do something special in memory of their captain, but in some ways their preliminary quarter final win over Thurles Sarsfields was their county final, where they produced a performance to be proud of, even if there was no silverware for it, with their season ending in the next round at the hands of Kiladangan.

What did happen is that Dillon’s death also bonded together their opponents from that fateful evening, Kilruane MacDonaghs, and it feels appropriate that they or Clonoulty are in this county final. It feels right that there is a connection to ensure Dillon Quirke is part of this county final day, and I am sure an appropriate way will be established in the coming years to perpetuate his memory into the future, be it in Semple Stadium itself, or part of the county senior hurling championship. Maybe it is time to retire Irish revolutionary Dan Breen and give the honour of the senior cup to an on-field hurling leader in Dillon Quirke. It is certainly a debate worth having in the coming years.

Apart from the amazing success of the Tipperary minors in the All-Ireland final in July, it hasn’t been a great year for GAA in the county. The inter-county senior team never really got going, not helped by the enforced retirement of Padraic Maher in late January which felt like a punch to the gut that has lingered ever since. Then there was the poor league and championship and how the departure of Colm Bonnar was handled. Despite the arrival of Liam Cahill, there is a sense of a few difficult years coming with a rebuild needed. However, this is Tipperary, and we never shirk from anything. We have been largely spoiled since 2009 and the worm will turn again, hopefully sooner rather than later.

Then there were the off-field issues in terms of coach and spectator behaviour, culminating in last Saturday’s incident at an under 9 blitz in Dr Morris Park. What is going on that we are hearing of incidents involving referees, and now worryingly children, almost on a weekly basis? GAA is meant to be a sport where we can escape from every day pressures, but a small number of people are releasing that pressure in the wrong way and bringing the Association into disrepute in the process.

We could do with a good county final to end the GAA from a Tipperary perspective on a high!