Sir, - Your obituary of Fr Marney Cunningham (The Irish Times, June 3rd), while naturally concentrating on his rugby career, omitted the last occasion on which he came to prominence on the rugby scene. When Munster played South Africa at Thomond Park, Limerick on January 14th 1970, Fr Marney Cunningham was part of an antiapartheid protest outside the ground - the only old international, I believe, to take such a stand at the time.
The IRFU adopted its usual "head in the sand" approach to the ill-fated South African tour of 1970, parroting the catch cries of "Keep politics out of sport" and "Let's build bridges". Its record on apartheid was shameful, right down to the ill-judged Irish tour of South Africa in 1981.
Fr Marney Cunningham's principled protest at Thomond Park in 1970 breached the rugby establishment's blanket of conformity and deserves to be remembered - Yours etc.,
John Cussen, Gortboy, Newcastle West, Co Limerick.