Tipperary have the bark and the bite

Waterford are a tough nut to crack, but they won’t hold a team of Tipperary’s ability

THERE’S one man who won’t be at tomorrow’s Munster hurling final, a man who didn’t miss either a Munster or an All-Ireland final since 1949 in hurling and football (“AND replays!”, as he always said himself), and that’s Tom Mannion.

A fanatic Tipp supporter, native of Birdhill, he had a travel business in Ennis for nearly all his adult life and in time he became a good Clare supporter also. Tipperary were always number one, however, and many a happy hour of banter was spent in his company. It’s of such people that the GAA is made up — he’ll be sorely missed, and my condolences to his wife and family.