Shock as Irish star dies
By Rod Curtis
March 6, 2004
http://www.realfooty.theage.com.au/realfooty/articles/2004/03/05/1078464637947.html?from=storyrhs
By Rod Curtis
March 6, 2004
http://www.realfooty.theage.com.au/realfooty/articles/2004/03/05/1078464637947.html?from=storyrhs
Ireland has been rocked by the news that Cormac McAnallen, the 24-year-old Tyrone full-back noted for his valiant attempts to stop Sydney's Barry Hall in last year's International Rules series, died suddenly of a heart condition on Tuesday night (Melbourne time).
It is believed the young star - who last year captained Tyrone to its historic first All-Ireland Gaelic football title, won his first Ireland All-Star award and was selected for his third consecutive International Rules series - died of a viral heart infection, a condition that affects one in 100,000 people.
McAnallen, a secondary school history and politics teacher by trade, will be remembered with a minute's silence at Gaelic Athletic Association games throughout Ireland next week. The AFL sent a letter of condolences to the GAA this week.
Tributes have flowed for the young star. Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams said McAnallen's "untimely passing has robbed this island of one of our greatest talents".
Noel Doran, the editor of the Belfast-based Irish News, said that "in terms of a sporting figure in Tyrone, he's a bigger name than Damien Duff or Robbie Keane or Brian O'Driscoll".
GAA president Sean Kelly said McAnallen had the "rare gift of greatness, allied to humility".
Australia's International Rules coach, Garry Lyon, said McAnallen had a "fantastic attitude to sport and life". Lyon said that, in last October's first Test in Perth, McAnallen was "fighting out of his weight division" against Hall, "but he never gave up".
"The spirit between the two teams is great," Lyon said. "It's just very, very sad."