Clubbing together for common cause

I was tempted to follow the two women down the steps and into the tunnel under the Mackey Stand at half-time yesterday, but in the end, I didn’t.

On one level I didn’t want to overhear them say they were a couple of academics investigating Irish social attitudes; on another level I didn’t want to be seen hanging around outside the ladies’ loo. A fella could get a name.

My first concern looked unfounded from the start. Even total-immersion anthropologists don’t dress in head-to-toe branded sportswear, and the two ladies I’d seen — a mother and daughter, at a guess — were clad in Clare gear from top to toe.