The late Mick Dunne The sad news of Mick Dunne's untimely death on Sunday 11 August came as a great shock to his large circle of friends, to his colleagues and to the GAA public for whom he had written and to whom he had broadcast for half a century on the Gaelic games he loves so dearly. A loyal Laois man, Mick was very proud of his roots and his heritage and, infrequent as they were, he delighted in his county's achievements. One of nature's finest gentlemen, his death has left a void in Irish sports society and in handball in particular, which will never be filled. Mick was Ireland's leading sports journalist when he was the principal GAA reporter with the "Irish Press". In the pre-television days, his Monday reports on the big games were considered as Gospel. He continued to write for the "Irish Press" until RTE appointed him as their Gaelic games correspondent. His distinctive voice, allied to his extensive knowledge of Gaelic Games made him a popular choice and he reported for radio and television until his retirement. Even in retirement, he kept meticulous records of all games and even shortly before his death he had his files up to date with the Munster Under 21 hurling replay result. These records made him a much sought after person by journalists as he could give them details of virtually every game played in the past 50 years and more. Mick was the author of a regular feature in Highball and did a column in The Irish Independent following his retirement from RTE. When he undertook a task he always did so in a most professional manner. He left nothing to chance: he was absolutely meticulous in scripting his notes. His writing style had a great flourish and he was totally committed to every deadline he was given. One of his great legacies will be the All Stars awards. It was his idea that our top hurlers and footballers should be acknowledged each year. He was the main presenter since 1971 and due tribute was paid to him at the recent All Stars Awards. Much has been written about his accounts of GAA activities abroad but his immense interest in the Compromise Rules led to his huge collection of memorabilia! And who will ever forget his exciting, riveting and indeed amusing interview with John Todd, the Australian team manager during the inaugural series in Australia? Mick Dunne was a great friend of handball and enjoyed playing the game until a few short years ago. He was a very familiar and friendly face at games throughout the country and travelled to the World Championships on several occasions where he became well known to players and officials from the other handballing countries. He contributed handsomely to the sport in a voluntary capacity and used his very considerable talents and expertise as MC for the annual Waterford Crystal Awards ceremony and also for the All-Ireland finals every year. He researched and penned numerous articles for the Irish Handball Yearbook. He was a member of the steering committee for that Yearbook and I, as chairman of the committee, was always amazed at the workload he undertook as well as his professionalism when the final touches were applied to the Yearbook every November. Mick was a delighted recipient of the Waterford Crystal Handball Award for Special Services an award he richly deserved. Mick was a man whose personal standards, underpined as they were by his Christian values, greatly impressed all those who were fortunate enough to have met and known him. He loved Gaelic Games and its players and they respected him in generous measure. The attendance of so many players and officials past and present at his removal and funeral mass was an inspiring testimony to the high esteem in which he was held, not only as a GAA journalist and broadcaster, but as a true friend and a highly respected person. His loss to Gaelic Games is immense but he will, of course, be missed most of all by his wife, Lilly, his daughters Eileen, Una and Moira and grandchildren, Cormac and Maeve. Courtesy of Tommy O'Brien January 2003 Tweet

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