Michael 'Mick' Dunne (27 May 1929 – 11 August 2002) was an Irish sports journalist who pioneered television coverage of

Gaelic games Gaelic games ( ga, Cluichí Gaelacha) are a set of sports played worldwide, though they are particularly popular in Ireland, where they originated. They include Gaelic football, hurling, Gaelic handball and rounders. Football and hurling, the ...

.Obituary Sunday Independent 18 Aug. 2002
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Birth and childhood

He was born 27 May 1929 in Clonaslee,

County Laois County Laois ( ; gle, Contae Laoise) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and in the province of Leinster. It was known as Queen's County from 1556 to 1922. The modern county takes its name from Loígis, a medie ...

, one of two sons of Francis Dunne, insurance agent, and Agnes Dunne (née Foley), schoolteacher. Educated at Clonaslee national school and Knockbeg College,

County Carlow County Carlow ( ; ga, Contae Cheatharlach) is a county located in the South-East Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. Carlow is the second smallest and the third least populous of Ireland's 32 traditional counties. Carlow Cou ...

, he went to work in the etchings library of the Irish Press in 1947, becoming Gaelic games correspondent in 1957.

Awards

He was central to the negotiations with sponsors to set up the annual GAA All Stars Awards which grew out of the Cuchulainn Awards in the 1960s and were established on an annual basis in 1971. He remained its driving force up to the 1990s, and before his death he was honoured with a special award for his work on the scheme.

Broadcasting

In 1970 he joined RTÉ as the station's first Gaelic games correspondent, developing the ''Gaelic Stadium'' preview programme and after the arrival of a camera unit in 1976, expanded GAA television coverage.

Handball and camogie

A fan of the lesser Gaelic games of

camogie Camogie ( ; ga, camógaíocht ) is an Irish stick-and-ball team sport played by women. Camogie is played by 100,000 women in Ireland and worldwide, largely among Irish communities. A variant of the game of hurling (which is played by men onl ...

and

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball or Olympic handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of throwing it into the g ...

, he helped devise the televised handball series ''Top Ace'' in 1973. It was expanded to include Mexican and American players in 1980. On his retirement he was awarded the Waterford Crystal Handball Award for special services to handball. Four communications awards presented annually by the Camogie Association are named in his honour.

Magazine

After his retirement he wrote regular columns for the ''

Irish Independent The ''Irish Independent'' is an Irish daily newspaper and online publication which is owned by Independent News & Media (INM), a subsidiary of Mediahuis. The newspaper version often includes glossy magazines. Traditionally a broadsheet new ...

'' and ''Gaelic Sport'' magazine. He was contributing editor to ''High Ball'' magazine following its establishment by Mike Hogan and Eoghan Corry in 1998, having previously edited ''Gaelic World''.

Books

Dunne contributed updates on the GAA's own records for the 1975 ''Our Games Annual'' and what was to be eventually published as the Complete handbook of Gaelic games up to 1999. Own-name works include ''The Star Spangled Final'' (1997), an account of the staging of the 1947 All-Ireland football final in New York and a history of Gaelic football in the Gardaí, ''The Story of the Garda GAA Club'' (1998). In 2010 his archive was handed over to the GAA museum in

Croke Park Croke Park ( ga, Páirc an Chrócaigh, ) is a Gaelic games stadium in Dublin, Ireland. Named after Archbishop Thomas Croke, it is referred to as Croker by GAA fans and locals. It serves as both the principal national stadium of Ireland and he ...

by his daughter

Eileen Eileen ( or ) is an Irish feminine given name anglicised from Eibhlín and may refer to: People Artists *Eileen Agar (1899–1991), British Surrealist painter and photographer *Eileen Fisher (born 1950), clothing retailer and designer *Eileen ...

, a newsreader with RTÉ.

Marriage and death

Dunne married Lilly Fox, from Delvin, County Westmeath in 1956. They had three daughters,

, Una, and Moira. He died on 11 August 2002.

References

External links

Irish Independent" President pays tribute to journalist
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dunne, Mick 1929 births 2002 deaths Gaelic games writers and broadcasters Irish Independent people Irish sports broadcasters Irish sports journalists Irish television journalists Broadcasters from County Laois Writers from County Laois People from Clonaslee