IN ALL FAIRNESS - Clubs can drive Quirke Foundation

The Foundation, which has been established in memory of the Clonoulty/Rossmore and Tipperary senior hurler, aims to raise awareness, and save lives by screening every GAA player, both male and female, from the age of 12 upwards for Sudden Adult Death Syndrome (SADS), which takes the lives of around one hundred young people in in Ireland each year.

So far, over €44,000 has been raised in just the three days since the GoFundMe page (https://www.gofundme.com/f/d4vp55-dillon-quirke-foundation) went live, with its aim of reaching €1 million which would establish a screening programme nationally for the next five years.

A special hurling game between Tipperary and Kilkenny will also take place in FBD Semple Stadium on Sunday, February 19th, 2023, will generate a large amount of funds, but it is the clubs of the county, and indeed the country which will ensure this Foundation hits its target. Already, Clonlara GAA club in Clare, who were already planning to host a “Pride of the Parish” event next Tuesday, have selected the Dillon Quirke Foundation as their chosen charity.

The 72 GAA clubs in Tipperary, 14 Handball clubs, 38 Camogie clubs, and 35 Ladies Football clubs, need to take the lead on this and ensure any fundraiser they are planning over the next year, is linked to the Dillon Quirke Foundation. Not only will the charity benefit, it will also be the easiest fundraiser for a club to run as few people will refuse to contribute, and off the back of it, maybe a young boy and girl in your club could have a heart issue detected at an early stage from the screening programme, from where it can be determined whether it can be treated from where they can continue to play sport, or maybe having to give it up but still go onto live a normal life off the field.

Dillon’s father Dan confirmed that they hope to begin the roll-out of the screening programme in the next six months, starting in Tipperary, before moving country-wide.

The sudden passing of such a talented sportsman in his prime, shocked the GAA community nationally to the core, as they came from all over Ireland to Clonoulty & Rossmore for his wake and funeral last August. Not only had he made his way into the starting line-up for the Tipperary senior hurlers this year, he had all the attributes of not only staying there for years to come, but he was also captaincy material.

COLM BONNAR

Former Tipperary manager Colm Bonnar saw those traits in Dillon Quirke to give him such a prominent role in what was, altogether, a forgettable year at senior level.

Indeed, the decision to move on from Colm Bonnar after just one year, which county secretary Tim Floyd said was one of the hardest he was involved in is hard to disagree with him.No one on the committee who made that decision would have taken any comfort by doing it.

Colm Bonnar is as honourable a man as you will meet and from the moment he got the job in the autumn of 2021, you understood the privilege it was for him. He was dealt an awful hand, succeeding an All-Ireland winning manager in Liam Sheedy; was very much second choice after Liam Cahill turned it dow;, then losing Padraic Maher to an enforced retirement, plus key injuries to Seamus Callanan and John McGrath prior to and during the championship.

The pain Colm Bonnar felt after the hammering by Cork in their final Munster Championship game, it was etched all over his face. It comes as no surprise that he hasn’t taken his removal as Tipperary manager very well. He was never a man who was going to air any grievances in public. However, it has come to my attention that he is gone to ground pretty much and is not taking calls, even from close friends and former teammates, offering support.

In the event Colm Bonnar might read this or word gets to him, no one in Tipperary thinks any less of you, despite the disappointing 2022 campaign. You are still a Tipperary great who always answered the call in your playing days and did the same when the county was in need managerially.

Management is a harsh business, fellow greats of Tipperary hurling such as Tony Wall, Len Gaynor and Michael Doyle can attest to that, having been moved on from in equally hastened circumstances. However, no one thinks any less of them, and in time when the rawness of not being Tipp manager anymore dissipates, Colm will still be warmly welcomed into the bosom of Tipperary hurling.