GER Withers was a great friend and an even better mentor. He is an awful loss to all in hunting but especially to his family and his wider circle of friends.

As a young man, I started with him as a whipper-in and it was he who inspired me to be a huntsman.

Fergus Stokes

Huntsman

I WAS privileged to whip-in to Gerard Withers for the last 11 years. Gerard was a perfectionist. The kennels were always kept in an immaculate condition and both he and his hounds for a day’s hunting were impeccably turned out and on time.

He was a gentleman to whip-in to and even on a poor hunting day, he always had a smile on his face when talking to either the field, the car followers, or the farmers.

Arthur Comyn

Amateur whipper-in since 1990

I WOULD like to send my sincere sympathies to Ger Withers’ wife Maria, her young family and their respective families, and also to the followers and friends of the Duhallow Hounds. The extended hunting fraternity is both shocked and saddened at the untimely passing of Ger who we admired as a huntsman, a breeder of Old English hounds, a horseman, and also as a gentleman who always greeted you with that endearing smile of friendliness.

He will never be forgotten by those who had the good fortune to meet him or be in his company.

Noel Mullins

Hunting correspondent