Very sad news that such a legend of the game has died at such a young age. I’m more than willing to overlook Paidi’s Fianna Fail background in favour of his Irish Republican credentials. He was very gracious after Armagh beat Kerry in 2002.
He won’t go down as one of the great managers but undoubtedly was a good one. He oversaw Kerry’s emergence from the doldrums, winning two U-21 All-Irelands and then a Munster title in his first year as senior manager, following it up with the League and All-Ireland in 1997. That was a poor team and he deserves a lot of credit for delivering an All-Ireland. The 2000 team was considerably better and that was probably Kerry’s best ever All-Ireland. I attended the two semi-finals against Armagh that year and they were titanic matches. The finals against Galway were very exciting matches too. That Kerry team were involved in some more titanic matches over the next couple of years also, most memorably against Dublin in Thurles and that final against Armagh. They played a superb brand of football and Paidi oversaw that. Winning a Leinster title with Westmeath was another great achievement.
A massive character and the GAA scene will be duller in his absence.