Talented Diffo had a heart of gold

Sean Diffley will forever be known to his friends as “Diffo” but to a wider world he was known as a fantastic sports journalist in a career spanning more than 60 years.

I first met him in the 70s when we met at an Irish underage athletic meet in Belfield and took an instant liking to him. He was the first Dublin journalist in my career who didn’t have a bias against country people! He insisted on driving me back to Heuston to make sure I got home on time while I wrote up the results frantically to drop into the Aston Quay offices for telexing back to Cork.

We soldiered together on the rugby scene on Munster, Irish and Lions tours and there was never a dull moment. We were a tight group; Ned Van Esbeck, Diffo, Karl Johnston and myself and built up a bond that cannot be replicated in today’s journalistic world.