Madam, – The Dublin Hurlers demolished Kilkenny last Sunday, the “All Blacks” of our national game. Forty-two thousand spectators witnessed this historic event in Jones Road.Tears were shed by grown men like me wearing blue not just because we won but how we did it. This team of Dublin hurlers set about breaking the mould over the last two years’ led by a guy called “Dalo”. Anthony Daly had done this before with a Clare team he captained in the mid 1990s and has now somehow instilled this same inner belief in the sons of some of those guys I played with in my youth. Thousands of young Dubs woke up on Monday asking for the first time when “The Hurlers” are playing again.
This team beat the Invincibles on Sunday because it had been converted into a well-organised, determined and “fit for purpose” unit. Bereft of any prima donnas, they played for each other, for the jersey, for pride in their code.
Ireland in general can take a big lesson from “The Hurlers”. We need to get fit and pull together, rebuild our country’s image,spread a new contagion and get out there and show the world what we’re made of. – Yours, etc,