Our cup overfloweth

IN bygone days when the extent of my sporting horizon was confined to whether Cork could win an All-Ireland, the highlight of the year was witnessing the hurlers, or occasionally the footballers, parading silverware through the streets on an open-topped lorry.

The late seventies were particularly rewarding with the hurlers returning with the Liam McCarthy Cup for an historic three-in-a-row.

In those days open-top receptions for our sporting heroes was the sole preserve of the GAA. So much so that when I headed off to the inaugural Rugby World Cup in New Zealand and Australia in 1987, a friend suggested cynically that the next time he would see me was parading the William Webb Ellis trophy rounding Paddy Barry’s corner en route up Patrick Street.