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DOCUMENTARY ON ONE: WHO FEARS TO SPEAK OF '98?

RTÉ Radio 1, Sunday 29 June, 7.02pm

Who Fears to Speak of '98 relives a dramatic year in the life of Irish
Hurling, where the summers' games became our national soap opera.

This documentary tells how Offaly lost the Leinster Final to Kilkenny
and then embark on an epic journey after their Manager Babs Keating is
sacked after calling them 'a heap of sheep'.

Clare and Waterford draw in the Munster Final. It rains just before the
ball is thrown in for the relay. Willie Barrett, the referee, delays the
throw in while he speaks with officials on the sideline. The summer
erupts. Two players are sent off and Colin Lynch - Clare midfielder -
eventually gets a lengthy ban.
The following night, RTÉ Radio 1's programme, Sportscall is - to put
it mildly - heated. Ger Loughnane gives a frank and controversial
interview to Clare FM.

Following this, Clare meet Offaly and the tense affair ends in a draw.
Clare and Offaly meet again and with Clare three points up, the referee
whistles up the game three minutes early. The Offaly supporters sit down
on the pitch. The affair is named after the referee - Jimmy Cooney.
Offaly defeat Kilkenny in the All Ireland Final.

This documentary contains interviews with Johnny Pilkington, Willie
O'Connor, Paul Flynn, Jimmy Cooney who give an account of a dramatic
year in Irish G.A.A.
Presented by Peter Woods
Producers: Peter Woods and Liam O'Brien.

Listen back to the DOCUMENTARY ON ONE: WHO FEARS TO SPEAK OF '98? at
http://www.rte.ie/radio1/doconone/

Don't forget to have the wirelesses ready for this folks.
I get the wet battery refilled so I can tune in.

The guy behind the documentary was on Saturday sport on Radion 1 yesterday. They're going to put an extended version of the documentary's interview with Jimmy Cooney up on the RTÉ website.

I finally got to listen to this on the net last night.
A great documentary it must be said.

I felt sorry for Willie Barret and Jimmy Cooney. Whatever about calling the refs names in the heat of battle, hounding them in the private lives afterwards in disgraceful and should be dealt with by the guards.

I also listened to Johnny Pilkington's hour long interview in its entirity too. Funny how he didn't remember who Offaly beat in the Leinster semi final that year, when in fact Johnny Dooley's last minute winner against Wexford was one of the pivotal moments of the summer.

for anyone who missed it

http://www.rte.ie/radio1/doconone/1212840.html

From todays Irish Examiner -


"It’s 1998... with a few changes

By Michael Moynihan
TOMORROW night in Thurles Gerald McCarthy and Ger Loughnane stalk the sidelines once again, while Joe Dooley and Davy Fitzgerald will also cross swords.


It’s like 1998 all over again, though without the three priests, late-night Munster Council meetings, pitch occupations by disgruntled fans, and games being whistled up two minutes early.

Well, there’s been none of that so far. It’s only July, remember.

Given the way the chips have fallen for this weekend’s games, that recent RTE documentary, Who Fears To Speak Of ‘98, couldn’t have been more timely. The documentary, which focussed on that never-to-be-forgotten summer, brought back to vivid life the two Munster hurling finals of that season, not to mention the disciplinary shenanigans afterwards and the Offaly-Clare marathon.



Back then Ger Loughnane had led a team from the wilderness; nowadays he’s trying to do the same with Galway. The similarities don’t quite align perfectly, however. The Clare model of ‘98 was a battle-hardened group whose fearsome defence backboned their two All-Ireland victories.

This Galway team is a reverse image of that Clare side: spearheaded by Joe Canning but with doubts hanging over the rearguard. That’s not the only difference, of course. Ger Loughnane famously addressed the Banner nation in the middle of the season 10 years ago, but silence has radiated from across the Shannon for most of the year. Who fears to speak in ‘08?

His adversary 10 years ago on the sideline was Gerald McCarthy, then with Waterford. The Déise didn’t quite make it out of the wilderness under McCarthy’s watch, though most observers would credit the foundations he laid as forming the basis for his namesake Justin’s success in collecting three Munster championships and a National league title. Gerald, not Justin, was the manager who introduced the likes of Ken McGrath and John Mullane to senior intercounty hurling, though they fully blossomed under his successor.

Like Ger Loughnane, Gerald McCarthy’s present post is also a neat opposite to the challenges he faced with his former side. Where Waterford were a young team with potential, looking to gain experience of the big occasion, Cork have all the experience you could want, and then some. Several players have three All-Ireland medals, and many have played in four consecutive All-Ireland finals.

The gloom on Leeside at present is presumably based on the fact that none of those players are getting younger, not to mention a laboured victory over Dublin.

In 1998 Gerald McCarthy had a young team who knew there was always tomorrow; for some of his current charges tomorrow may be very close indeed.

The other two managers taking to the sidelines tomorrow night, Joe Dooley of Offaly and Davy Fitzgerald of Waterford, figured prominently in 1998 as well, of course. Dooley already has a significant scalp this season, in Limerick, but he too is in a far different camp compared to a decade ago.

Back then Offaly were a seasoned bunch, dripping with All-Ireland minor and senior medals, not to mention a loudly trumpeted reputation as the biggest travelling party in the GAA.

A few weeks ago this reporter saw Dooley emerge from the dressing-rooms in Portlaoise after a trimming by Kilkenny, and the players who came out behind him were as fresh-faced as you’d expect from a senior squad with 12 U-21 players on it.

Dooley has also had to learn how to reverse his thinking, putting aside the environment he operated in 10 years ago, and dealing with a new reality.

As for the Waterford manager... well, anyone who would have suggested in 1998 that Davy Fitzgerald would become boss of the Déise would have been treated to his or her comrades gathering up their drinks and edging away slowly.

Because the appointment’s been overtaken by other events, it doesn’t make it any less unusual, and if anyone’s had to reverse their thinking, it’s Davy.

Who feared to predict in ‘98? "