A GUARD of honour, made up of some of the most famous names in the GAA, greeted the remains of Michael O'Hehir on arrival at the Church of Corpus Christi, Home Farm Road, Griffith Avenue, in Dublin yesterday evening.
Among them were five former presidents of the association, Mr Pat Fanning, Mr Seamus O Riain, Dr Mick Loftus, Mr Paddy Buggy and Mr Sean O Siochan. Also present were the GAA director general, Mr Liam Mulvihill, and former county players Joe Stafford (Cavan), Paddy O'Brien (Meath), Paddy Holden (Dublin), Mick Spillane (Kerry), Gerry O'Malley (Roscommon), Jimmy Keaveney (Dublin),
Babs Keating (Tipperary), and Pat O'Neill (Dublin).
The Artane Boys Band stood to attention as the hearse arrived. Later, as hundreds of people lined up to sympathise with the O'Hehir family, the band played Faith of our Fathers.
Among the clergy officiating were Dr James Kavanagh and Dr James Moriarty, both Auxiliary Bishops with the Dublin archdiocese. In a brief address Dr Moriarty described Mr O'Hehir as "a commentator par excellence" and a consummate broadcaster with that wonderful voice that turned words into pictures for all of us". He commented how, over the last few days "we had seen the love, affection, and esteem in which he was held by the Irish people".
He referred to some outstanding moments in Mr O'Hehir's career, in particular his coverage of President Kennedy's funeral in 1963, his commentary on the 1967 Grand National won by Foinavon - and the Cavan/Kerry match from the Polo Grounds in New York in 1947, which was the first time Dr Moriarty recalled hearing the commentator.
The chief mourners were Mr O'Hehir's wife, Molly, his daughters, Mary and Ann, sons, Tony, Michael and Peter, his daughters-in-law, son-in-law and grandchildren.
Other GAA figures present included Mr Dan McCartan, chairman of the Games Administration Committee; the vice-chairman of the Ulster Council, Mr Danny Murphy; the Ulster Council secretary, Mr Micky Feeney; and the Dublin County secretary, Mr John Costello. The GAA public relations officer, Mr Danny Lynch, said "nearly every county" was represented at the removal.
Among the politicians in attendance were the Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications, Mr Lowry; the Fianna Fail leader, Mr Bertie Ahern; the former Taoiseach, Mr Liam Cosgrave, and his son, Senator Liam Cosgrave.
Those present from RTE included the head of sport, Fred Cogley; Tim O'Connor, head of TV sport; Ian Corr, head of radio sport; Tracy Piggott and Con Power.
Also there were Micheal Muircheartaigh, Jimmy Magee, Brian Carthy, Kevin O'Connor, Marty Morrissey, Jim Dunne and Eileen Dunne. The former RTE director-general, Vincent Finn, was also there.
Newspaper journalists at the removal included Malachy Logan, sports editor of The Irish Times; Sean Moran, GAA correspondent of The Irish Times; Jim O'Sullivan of the Cork Examiner, and Des Rushe of the Irish Independent.
Mr O'Hehir's funeral Mass will take place at 11 a.m. today, after which the burial takes place at Fingal Cemetery.
