Liam Hayes....Health and happiness to you..

Liam was on tonights Late Late with Tubbs, where he revealed he's suffering from non-hodgkin's disease. The War Office confirms that this is not a good news item but Hayes got on with it in his usual quasi-confrontational manner.
Personally, whatever his merits as a journalist, I wish him well on the road to recovery.....Here's a blast of him in his pomp, though the opposition were weak....

Watched this.. Fair play to the man, spoke about two very delicate issues which are all too common in Ireland..

I love his column. People forget some of the nuggets in his "in your face" comments. he was the ONLY writer to see Monaghan appearing and in 2008 he was the ONLY riter to tip Tyrone to win the all Ireland.

It is true that by the final he changed his mind and said Kerry were 20 points a better side than Tyrone. In this he was right as well just unfortunate that kerry had a bad day.....

I like him, he makes Sunday interesting.

Jonsmith wrote:Watched this.. Fair play to the man, spoke about two very delicate issues which are all too common in Ireland..

I'd be supportive of Hayes' views as enunciated in both cases, took a lot of bottle to say it as he saw it...

Jonsmith wrote:Watched this.. Fair play to the man, spoke about two very delicate issues which are all too common in Ireland..

Did not see it but I note the two delicate issues are still delicate in that nobody has mentioned what they are! I presume one is suicide?

His brother committed suicide back in the 80's.. He spoke at length about how he regarded it (as a great betrayal in his case) and how the family could never talk about it among themselves after it happened.

The second issue being cancer and the horrible details that involves, breaking it to your family etc.

Tackled both head on and brought home some shocking figures, there are more people killed by suicide than on the roads yet it's not an issue being tackled to any reasonable extent in Irish society. Thought provoking stuff.

Yes and badly needed. I think his brother took his life from the goalposts of the local GAA club. I also heard that some opponents at this time were not averse to reminding Hayes about this. Thats sport - indeed.

We need to get our heads out of the sand and talk about suicide, alcohol abuse, etc.

Best of luck to Liam. He was not my most favourite columnist but I wish him a full recovery.

Jayo Cluxton wrote:Yes and badly needed. I think his brother took his life from the goalposts of the local GAA club. I also heard that some opponents at this time were not averse to reminding Hayes about this. Thats sport - indeed.

We need to get our heads out of the sand and talk about suicide, alcohol abuse, etc.

some people will go to any lengths to gain an inch - and before anyone has a dig i know we have our fair share of them in Tyrone.

Bes to luck to Liam with the road ahead

he is a decent man and always seems to be fair hope it turns well out for him

Like RKF I would be a liar if I said that Liam was one of my favourite journalists but I admired the way he could handle himself on the field of play. I haven't seen the Late late show interview but think that is repeated tonight at 11.30pm but it will offer the chance to those of us who missed it to hear Liam tell his emotional personal story.

He has a very difficult journey ahead of him with intense treatment and all but there are many survivors of this terrible illness to offer much hope to people like Liam to battle this disease and ultimately defeat it. My thoughts and prayers are with Liam and his family and the many others fighting cancer at this time.

nice post there mugsys

Saw the repeat there last night. Hayes is a very good communicator and came across very well dealing with some very emotional issues with extreme bravery and dignity. Best of luck to him in his fight - attitude and positivity is a big part and he has a good start there.

He's on Off the Ball on Newstalk now, he let slip about fellow GAA figure who has cancer too.

I feel he shouldn't be announcing someone elses troubles on a national radio like that. I wish Hayes all the best in his current battle but he should have been a bit more sensitive to another man's woes. Poor form.

I presume he didn't name anyone Seb? On the law of averages (and including ex-players, managers etc) you are probably looking at quite a few lads getting treatment for various forms of the disease.

Jayo Cluxton wrote:I presume he didn't name anyone Seb? On the law of averages (and including ex-players, managers etc) you are probably looking at quite a few lads getting treatment for various forms of the disease.

No, the man was named twice.