Preacher stopped in his tracks

The nation's veteran sporting evangelist, who uses GAA matches to spread the gospel message that "ye must be born again", has…

The nation's veteran sporting evangelist, who uses GAA matches to spread the gospel message that "ye must be born again", has had his preaching prop snatched from him.

Mr Frank Hogan's "John 3:7" banner was pitched out of a moving train on Sunday night as he returned from the quarter finals of the Munster Hurling Championship in Cork.

The Limerick man believes victorious Clare fans were responsible for tossing the six-foot long sign into the Co Cork countryside. Ironically, the monicker given to Clare GAA players and fans is Bannermen.

Mr Hogan, who is not given to uncharitable outbursts, said the behaviour confirmed his view of Clare fans, who he "wouldn't expect much more from".

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"You'd never get that from people from Kilkenny or Kerry or Cork or Derry," he added.

The former Catholic has become a fixture at GAA matches around the State, holding aloft his large sign which refers to the biblical message: "Marvel not that I said unto thee, ye must be born again."

The banner was six feet long and 18 inches wide, with John 3:7 printed horizontally on one side and vertically on the other.

Mr Hogan said he placed the sign in between carriages on the train from Cork. When he arrived in Limerick it was gone.

"A man said two or three Clare fellas threw the sign out the window of the train before Mallow," he said.

Luckily, Mr Hogan has a spare John 3:7 board, although he says this back-up sign is too flimsy and tends to buckle in the wind. Despite the setback, he vowed to continue his 12-year long mission to convert sinners at sporting events, concerts, festivals and fleadhanna.

He is accustomed to people coveting his sign and once had one stolen after he left it outside a railway station in Ballinasloe while he sheltered from the rain. "Most people want to buy the sign or steal it, they want it as a trophy.

"Lots of people want to be photographed with it," he added.