There’s quality coming around the corner in Limerick

FANATICAL. There’s hardly a better way to describe the relationship Justin McCarthy has with the game of hurling.

He was a perfectionist as a player, one of the most stylish of the modern era and he has been just as obsessive in his quest to spread the gospel, always with the emphasis on coaching more than managing.

In essence, hurling all but dominates his life; it has done so for five decades. As far back as 1970, he helped raise Antrim’s standard (leading them to success in the All-Ireland intermediate championship), and in between coaching Cork on two occasions he led Clare to two Munster final appearances and three consecutive league finals (two of which they won with a team which included Ger Loughnane). In more recent times, of course, he brought Waterford out of the doldrums before being forced out last summer.