So hard to measure loss of Michael

THIS is usually a time of the year when you find yourself paying a tribute to a former team-mate or opponent who has called time on his playing career, but nothing truly prepares you for the loss they suffered in Clare this week.

Michael O’Shea was just 37 when he passed away after an illness, and it is the kind of news that shakes you to the bone.

It is an unfair fact of life that there are quality footballers out there who go through their whole careers without getting the credit or recognition that is due because they happen to play for a county like Clare who are all too seldom in the spotlight.

I must have marked Michael close to half a dozen times and I can tell you he was a quality player.

I did not know much about him in 2003 when Gaeltacht came up against St Senan’s in the Munster club championship, but the first ball that came in he turned me and put it straight between the posts.

He had my respect then and he always had it. He spent 15 years (19992014) in the Clare jersey, which is a remarkable stint by any standards but all the more when you consider how slim his chances of success were.

That says a lot about man but whatever about his loss to his community, his loss to his family in the prime of his life is beyond comprehension.

I hope, trust and know that the honesty of effort Michael invested in playing for his community will be repaid by the support to his family of the entire GAA community in the months and years ahead.