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Darragh Ó Sé and Pat Fox remember ‘original, one-off’ Micheál Ó Muircheartaigh

Irish sporting world pays tribute on death of legendary broadcaster; England stumble on at Euros as Austra impress; Gordon D’Arcy on Irish provincial pain

Tributes to the late Micheál Ó Muircheartaigh came from every corner of Irish life after his death on Tuesday. Photograph: Colin Keegan/Collins
Tributes to the late Micheál Ó Muircheartaigh came from every corner of Irish life after his death on Tuesday. Photograph: Colin Keegan/Collins
Mary Hannigan's picture
Mary Hannigan
Wed Jun 26 2024 - 12:36

Micheál Ó Muircheartaigh was “such a singular presence in Irish life for so long, such an organic, original one-off”, they’re won’t “be the likes of him again”, writes Malachy Clerkin in his tribute to the broadcaster who died at the age of 93 on Monday. For so many, he was the voice of the summer, “when the sun was high and the car doors were open, you could hear the radio on the beach, from matches you couldn’t see in Clones or Thurles or Croke Park”. Darragh Ó Sé got to know his fellow county man well when Ó Muircheartaigh used to run training sessions for country players who were working in Dublin. He was, he says, “a gentleman” who had “no ego at all about him”, despite being so well known. “He had time for everyone and a word for everyone. He was interested in everybody and wanted to know who they were and who they knew and where they were from.”

Tipperary’s Pat Fox featured in one of Ó Muircheartaigh’s most famous commentating lines (a selection of which you will find here): “Pat Fox has it on his hurl and is motoring well now, but here comes Joe Rabbitte hot on his tail ... I’ve seen it all now, a Rabbitte chasing a Fox around Croke Park.” To this day, he tells Gordon Manning, he has people coming in to his pub asking, ‘are you the famous Fox who was chased by the Rabbitte?’

In his column looking ahead to the meeting of Kerry and Derry on Sunday, Seán Moran notes the “melancholic timing”, referring back to the last time a county won a football All-Ireland having lost a match along the way, Cork’s triumph in the 2010 final “the swansong broadcast” of Ó Muircheartaigh.

At Euro 2024, Gavin Cummiskey was in Cologne to witness a “clueless” England play out a scoreless draw with Slovenia. Despite their struggles, they’re through to the knock-out phase where the Netherlands are potential opponents. They lost 3-2 to Austria in Berlin on Tuesday evening, Ken Early on hand to see the Austrians produce “one of the outstanding performances of the European Championships”.

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In rugby, Gordon D’Arcy reflects on the provinces’ disappointing seasons, while John O’Sullivan talks to Garry Ringrose about the challenge of taking on South Africa in their own backyard.

And in athletics, Ian O’Riordan hears from Chris O’Donnell who, having helped the mixed relay team win gold at the European Championships in Rome earlier this month, is hoping to seal his selection for Paris at this weekend’s National Championships.

TV Watch: Groups E and F are decided today at Euro 2024, Ukraine playing Belgium (RTÉ 2 and BBC One) and Slovakia meeting Romania (RTÉ News Channel and BBC Two) in the 5.0 kick-offs, before the 8.0 games – Georgia v Portugal (RTÉ News Channel and UTV) and Czech Republic v Turkey (RTÉ 2 and ITV4).

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