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The President of Ireland Mrs Mary McAleese has paid a special tribute to horse trainer Dr Michael Vincent O’Brien who, sadly, died yesterday.
President McAleese said:
“As one of the most successful horse trainers in the industry, he played a key role in the establishment of Ireland as a centre of racing excellence”.
Dr O’Brien returned from his wife’s family home in Perth, Western Australia, just last week due to ill-health and died yesterday at his home in Straffan,County Kildare. Dr O’Brien was the owner of the Ballydoyle yard and the Coolmore stud, situated in the richest farmland in Europe, near Fethard, Cashel, Co. Tipperary and enjoyed over 75 major victories in a career that spanned more than 50 years in horse racing.
The current incumbent of Ballydoyle, Mr Aidan O’Brien said:
“It is with the greatest sadness that I learned of the passing of Dr Vincent O’Brien today. As for so many people in racing, he was my hero growing up. For my wife Anne Marie and myself to come to Ballydoyle, to the training facility he established, was an extraordinary privilege. Dr O’Brien was tireless in improving the yards and gallops and we enjoy today the benefits of his half-century of hard work and dedication”.
 The 92 year old Dr O’Brien was born in Churchtown, Co Cork in 1917. He was voted, in 2003, as the greatest National Hunt Trainer of the 20th century, and was later voted the greatest Flat Trainer of the 20th century. In a pole to find the greatest figure in the history of horse racing hosted by the Racing Post newspaper, Vincent O’Brien came first with 28% of the total vote, with his long-time stable jockey Lester Piggott placed second out of a pool of 100 contenders who had been carefully selected by a panel of racing experts.
Vincent O’Brien married author and photographer Jacqueline Wittenoom, from Perth, Australia, in 1951 and had five children. Daughters Elizabeth (widow of Kevin McClory), Susan (wife of John Magnier) and Jane (wife of Philip Myerscough); and sons Charles and David who followed in their father’s footsteps as trainers, as did Vincent’s grandson David Myerscough. Grandsons J P Magnier and M V Magnier have ridden with success as amateur jockeys.
Dr O’Brien and his wife Jacqueline latterly spent half of each year in her home town of Perth, Australia and the remainder of the year in Straffan,Co. Kildare , here in Ireland
Dr Vincent O’Brien’s funeral will take place at St Conleth’s Church in Newbridge at noon on Thursday next, followed by a private cremation. (Family flowers only)
The O’Brien family would be very grateful for donations, in lieu of flowers, to be made to The Society of St. Vincent de Paul.
Funeral arrangements will be by Fanagans Funeral Directors 54 Aungiers Street, Dublin 2, Dublin.
Defending Munster Under 21 Hurling champions Tipperary will play Cork in the Munster Under 21 Hurling Championship Quarter-Final on Wednesday June 3rd at 7:30pm.
You can follow this game online at the Munster GAA web site via a Live Match Tracker starting at 7:00pm from Semple Stadium Thurles on Wednesday next for up to the minute updates of every score and incident from the match.
 Fixture Details
WEDNESDAY JUNE 3rd at SEMPLE STADIUM, Thurles, Co Tipperary.
Bord Gais Energy Munster GAA Under 21 Hurling Championship
Tiobraid Arann v Corcaigh at 7.30p.m.
Extra Time in the event of a Draw
Reiteoir – Pat Casey (Port Láirge)
Transport Information
Iarnród Eireann would like to show its appreciation to Cork GAA fans for their continued support by offering supporters a special return web fare to the Under 21 game in Thurles on Wednesday next June 3rd.
Cork €21 return: Mallow €21 return: Charleville €21 return
These fares are only available on the 17.30 Cork: 17.52 Mallow: and 18.07 Charleville to Thurles and returning on the 21.22 Thurles to Cork service.
These fares are only available through www.irishrail.ie following the Cork v Tipperary link.
Munster GAA PRO Jim Forbes stated:
We welcomes this initiative by Iarnród Eireann and same should prove very popular with hurling fans who would like to see this very attractive game.
European Parliament hopeful and former GAA President Mr Sean Kelly called on the GAA to purchase the Haye’s Hotel Thurles.
Mr Kelly called on the GAA to establish this historic building as a tourist attraction and to incorporate the Lár Na Pairce museum as a memorial to that meeting in the Davin room, 125 years ago this year, which saw the establishment of the GAA organisation.
Mr Kelly made the call as he launched his Tipperary European Election campaign in the Haye’s Hotel to a large crowd of over 200 people on Tuesday night April 14th.
 Mr Kelly stated:
“I have thought for many years that the GAA should purchase Haye’s Hotel to ensure it is preserved in its rightful place in Irish history. Successive owners have been very good at keeping the business going and the connection with the past, through the Davin Suite and Cusacks Bar, but there is no guarantee that this will always be the case. The only way to ensure that our history, in this respect, is preserved would be for the organisation to buy it and run it jointly as both a hotel and a museum. The GAA now successfully run a hotel at Croke Park so they know how the business works. The GAA could also move Lár Na Parca from its present cramped site to the hotel grounds and make a fine visitors centre and museum there. It would be a shame for this treasure to be lost to the organisation and to the Irish nation.”
Thurles CBS completed a dream season when they claimed the All-Ireland Colleges SAHC [Croke Cup] with a 1-17 to 1-15 win over Good Counsel at Semple Stadium on Easter Monday.
In an early contender for match of the year, Thurles made up for the heartache of their loss to DLS Waterford last year.
Good Counsel, from New Ross, stormed into a 0-3 to 0-1 lead before Walter Walsh stole in for the opening goal for the Leinster side. His first strike was swept off the line by a defender but the full forward made no mistake with the rebound.
The Harty Cup champions hit back with three points and then struck for a fine goal from the stick of Michael O’Brien, who poked home after a booming defensive clearance had hit the crossbar.
Thurles led 1-11 to 1-8 at the interval and thanks, in the main,to some superb play by centre-back Denis Maher they managed to keep Good Counsel at arm’s length for the remainder of the second half.
However, New Ross did mount a superb comeback and hit three unanswered points and went looking for an equalising point as the game went into injury time. But it was not to be, as Kieran Morris fired over a late ’65 to hand the glory to Thurles CBC after a brilliant game of hurling.
Meanwhile today the GAA confirmed the venues and times for the Allianz League finals.
Derry will be looking for another upset against Kerry in the football decider, which stays at Croke Park. The NFL Division One and Division Two finals will be played on Sunday April 26th at this venue, with 2.00pm and 4.00pm starts.
Divisions Three and Four will be decided in Longford the previous evening at 6.30pm and 4.30pm respectively.
The hurling final between Kilkenny and Tipperary will go ahead at Semple Stadium Thurles at 4.00pm on Sunday May 3rd, thereby avoiding any clash the Heineken Cup semi-final between Munster and Leinster at GAA HQ that weekend.
The Division Two decider will act as a curtain-raiser from 2.00pm in Thurles, while Mullingar will host the Division 3A and Division Four Finals on Saturday May 2nd, and London go to Parnell Park in Dublin for the Division 3B Final on the same day at 3.00pm.
 Friday last, the Presentation Secondary School in Thurles, Co Tipperary, saw the official opening of their new and most magnificent Sr.Fideles Sports Hall, by past pupil and Irish Government Minister Mary Hanafin, Minister for Social and Family Affairs.
It was a particularly proud day for Board of Management Chairperson Sr.Fideles Purcell who had helped to spearhead the project and to whom the facility was dedicated.
This €3 million complex boasts an international size basketball arena, dance studio, gymnasium, meeting rooms, changing and shower facilities, reception area and stores and is expected to be a huge addition to the School.
The site for this building had been donated by the Presentation Order who also donated €1.5 million to the overall cost of this project. Students, both present and future will now enjoy a state-of-the-art facilities in all their future attempts to achieve both academic and sporting excellence.
Guest speaker Mr Aidan O’Brien and his wife Anne-Marie received a Guard of Honour, alongside Minister Hanafin on their arrival at the school.
Prior to Minister Hanafin cutting the ribbon, the projects Chairman Mr Antoin O’Brian, welcomed all in attendance. Mr O’Brian told the gathering that the project was now completely debt free and enormous gratitude was owed by the school to all who contributed towards its construction in any way. He also thanked the hard working committee, who had laboured so hard to further the project and looked forward to it bearing fruit in the years to come.
The many distinguished guests were welcomed by Sr.Fideles, Chairperson of the Board of Management, while a well rehearsed school choir and orchestra provided the entertainment for this event.
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