The comparatively swift passing of Mick Dunne took many by surprise. His career overlapped with mine for only a couple of years, but his presence considerably pre-dated our first meeting. When I was about 10 he came to my school to interview one of the teachers, Paul Kelly, who refereed a couple of All-Ireland finals in the early 1970s.

I remember the cameras and Mick Dunne doing the talking in a blue blazer with a massive "S" - for Sports Stadium I think - on the breast pocket. The exctiment and curiosity this aroused leaves the memory very vivid.

Jumping forward 15 years or so, I remember the rivetting interview he conducted with the demented-sounding Australian International Rules coach John Todd. It was in the dressing-room just after one of the scabrous Tests in 1986 and was a brave, persistent piece of interviewing.

Mick Dunne pushed Todd on the vicious antics of his team, eventually drawing the defiant response that the Irish were "wimps" - which threw petrol on the fire of an already heated situation and outraged GAA followers half a world away.

Four years later I was on the next tour of Australia, an altogether saner series, which was Mick Dunne's last before retirement. He acted as media liaison, an informal remit that meant the rest of us could happily take advantage of his meticulous attention to detail.

I knew him best through the All Stars scheme that he helped establish. Younger selectors sometimes rebelled against his austere interpretations, but even after he had retired he was still sufficiently fired up to engage with any of us and give as good as he got on any argument.

GAA journalism has changed over the years but Mick Dunne's generation were probably hardier journalists. They were, after all, pioneers. Typically, now that he's gone we can respect that and sadly sense the passing of an era.