THE sudden passing of John Horan robs the Banner county of one of its most outstanding sportsmen, not to mention raconteur, hunting man and so much more.

I have known John since I first started hunting with the county pack when he was both master and chairman more than twenty years ago. Then, before he was struck down by ill health he was the man to follow across the unforgiving Clare walls. Riding his own horse he won the Brady Brown Cup in Dromoland point-to-point then, as now, the most hotly contested race of the meeting.