Declan Ryan: Family disillusioned by Dillon Quirke jersey block
LEGENDS: At the launch of The Dillon Quirke Foundation fundraising in association with The Circet All-Ireland GAA Golf Challenge at the Clonoulty-Rossmore GAA Club in Tipperary were, from left, Henry Shefflin, Declan Ryan, Eddie Keher and John Kiely. The Foundation are calling on all GAA clubs to provide €100 towards providing cardiac screening across the association. To donate, visit bit.ly/doitfordillon. Pic: Harry Murphy/Sportsfile
On Sunday, in front of tens of thousands, Dillon Quirke will be remembered where he last pucked a ball and took his final breath.
Tom Semple’s field has long been hallowed but last August it became holier when Dillon passed away there doing what he loved best, hurling for his beloved Clonoulty-Rossmore.
To his family and friends, there will always be consolation in that. Sadly, there has been insult in the GAA’s steadfast refusal to allow Tipperary and Limerick wear jerseys carrying The Dillon Quirke Foundation logo.
Twelve months on from Dillon’s last game for Tipperary and the county’s first senior championship game in FBD Semple Stadium without him, almost everybody had been behind the initiative. The counties’ sponsors FiServ and JP McManus agreed several months ago to allow the kit feature the iconic representation of Dillon’s arm held aloft with hurley and helmet in hand following the club’s 2018 senior county championship success.
Established by the Quirke family to provide widespread cardiac screening for GAA players over the age of 12, the foundation has received great backing from clubs, counties and provincial councils. The jerseys were to be later auctioned in aid of the charity but the GAA’s management committee ruled in March that the promotion of charities, campaigns etc on players' gear was prohibited.
“The new protocols have been devised in an effort to help us and our counties to ensure consistency in what non-GAA messaging appears on county playing jerseys, and when,” GAA director of communications Alan Milton told the in March.
But as John Kiely explained, if The Dillon Quirke Foundation isn’t a GAA message, what is?
“I feel his situation is that little bit unique in that he died playing the game that he loved, on one of the most hallowed surfaces of all in Semple Stadium,” Kiely said.
“I think his situation is different to wider charitable causes. I think there is a distinct difference here.”
Last month, members of the Quirke family met with national GAA leaders only to be told there would be no budging. It was a bitter blow precisely because they are attempting to help the association in honour of Dillon. The compromise is the teams will wear training tops featuring the logo during their warm-ups on Sunday. For the coin toss, Declan Hannon is due to present some of the kit to his fellow captain Noel McGrath. The managers’ attire will also promote the foundation during the game but compared to the foundation’s presence being omnipresent in the thick of the action it amounts to small compensation.
The whole episode has left Dillon’s uncle and manager that fateful Friday evening Declan Ryan feeling disillusioned.
“A question a lot of ordinary GAA people have asked in recent times is where are we now? Is it all about the purse strings? How far removed are the people at the top from the grassroots that want to show support to the foundation? It’s a conversation that has come up time and again since the jersey issue arose.
“Limerick and Tipperary management and teams have been top class as you’d expect from top class people. Unfortunately, the top brass haven’t rowed in accordingly. This is all about having kids screened and proper decisions being made about their involvement in any sport they decide to play.”
This past week, a limited number of the jerseys went on sale and sold out in a couple of days. It was a timely indication of just how much this ambition of Dillon’s parents Hazel and Dan and his sisters Shannon and Kellie along with the likes of Ryan and uncle and club chairman Andrew Fryday has resonated with people.
As someone who had a ringside seat as Dillon evolved as a hurler and a man, from giving him “one of my greatest hurling days” when Dillon captained Clonoulty-Rossmore U16 team he managed to becoming a regular for the senior county team last season, there is an enormous sense of pride for Ryan when he sees how his nephew is remembered.
But as treasured as Dillon’s memory will be tomorrow, going to FBD Semple Stadium will never be the same for Ryan or the Quirkes. Ryan even goes as far as saying it’s an experience that is now “tainted” after the tragic events of nine months ago.
Naturally, being brought back to that senior championship game against Kilruane MacDonaghs last August 5 is a sensitive subject for Ryan.
“It was hugely difficult, a very emotional drain on us all. It’s hard to put it into words. Dying on the hurling field... we were beyond devastation. Devastation is probably too mild a word to use. We had great support as a family from GAA clubs, GAA families. Dan and Hazel, they’re just two very positive people and that’s what’s got us to this point so far.”
After winning back-to-back Munster SHC titles, both from the quarter-final stage, as Tipperary manager in 2011 and ’12, having brought All-Ireland minor success in ‘07, returning to his roots has been immensely rewarding for Ryan.
He brought his time as Tipperary manager to an end two weeks after the heavy ’12 All-Ireland semi-final defeat to Kilkenny but with time it’s a period that is recalled with more respect. “I’ve a very clear view of my managerial career at inter-county level,” says Ryan.
“I was there for four years in total, we won three Munster titles and one All-Ireland in those four years. I was lucky enough to be involved with some of the greatest players to have donned the blue and gold and some of them are still playing.
“My record could have been better, I suppose. The people who want to pass negative comments will remember the day Kilkenny beat us out the gate but my view of it is the titles we won. I look back at my time working with the Mahers, Noel McGrath, Brendan Maher, Mickey Cahill and these are men who will remembered forever.
“I didn’t engage with any of the commentary afterwards – I was lucky enough to be away on holiday. My only concern at the time was my family who I didn’t want to be looking at the commentary. I’m a Clonoulty-Rossmore man first and foremost and a Tipperary man after that.”
Cousin of Dillon, Ryan and Olive’s son Jack is currently on the Tipperary extended panel. Their younger son Tommy is also making advances.
“Jack has worked very hard to get onto the panel and if he keeps developing he’ll get his opportunity down the line. I don’t like to talk to him too much about hurling because he’s a very good manager in there to deal with that end of it. Hurling and sport are huge parts of our family and our make-up and we’re very proud of the two of them.”
Ryan knows Liam Cahill will be as helpful as his predecessor Colm Bonnar was to Dillon last year. How Bonnar was removed from the position remains a sore point in West Tipperary but his contribution to hurling in the county isn’t lost on his friends. “I played against Colm at club level and with him for the county and a more honest and honourable hurler it would be difficult to find,” Ryan remarks.
With so much on the line on Sunday, there could hardly be a more fitting game to promote the foundation. Ryan has ample time for both managers — Kiely is a member of the charity’s committee — and the manner in which they have shaped their teams.
“I admire the fact that Limerick introduced their own style and stuck with it. I admire the fact that they play that style to perfection almost and they have a fantastic manager, who I would regard very highly. Obviously, we’re all aware of their power but their skill level is incredible. If they’re at their best, then they are the best and they have been on the go a long time now and those standards can be difficult to maintain but if anyone can keep it going John Kiely and his backroom team can.
“From a Tipp point of view, they’re hugely fit and play a bit like their manager, full of energy and endeavour. They’re always busy. You’re supporting Tipperary at the moment knowing that you’re going to get huge commitment. That’s what we’ve got in Ennis and Cork so far and no doubt it will be the same in Thurles.”
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