Mourning Irish basketball's first superstar and greatest visionary

It is hard to convey to the uninitiated the enormity of loss experienced by Killarney, Irish basketball and even as loud and wide a city as his adopted home of Las Vegas with the passing of the life-force that was Paudie O’Connor.

Not even as titanic and unique a character as the late great P Ó Sé of Ceann Trá could indisputably claim to be the most roguish, charismatic and brilliant Kerry sports personality of the 1980s. That honour went to Paudie.

For all his professed love of politics, Páidí was never even a town councillor.