Dr Mick Loftus: All-Ireland winner and former GAA president dies
- Published
Dr Mick Loftus was GAA president from 1985 to 1988
Former GAA president and Mayo All-Ireland winner Dr Mick Loftus has passed away aged 93.
He was the last remaining member of Mayo's last All-Ireland Football title winning squad in 1951.
After his retirement from the sport, Loftus became a referee and served as GAA president from 1985 to 1988.
"On behalf of the wider GAA family I would like to offer his family and wide circles of friends our sympathies," said GAA president Larry McCarthy.
"He gave a lifetime to the GAA in a variety of different ways excelling both as a player and referee before embarking on an administrative career that led him to lead the association as president."
Loftus' decades of medical service in his local community also led to his principled stand over the issue of whether the GAA should accept sponsorship from alcoholic beverages companies and he made headlines in 2000 when he resigned from his presidency role in his own Crossmolina club after it had sought a special drinks licence for the day of a big match.
Seeing the ravages inflicted on many families by alcohol abuse also led the former GAA president to turn down invitations to several All-Ireland Hurling Finals during the period when a well-known drinks firm had become the main sponsor of the competition.
'I didn't even see a funeral' - 1951 All-Ireland winner Loftus on 'Mayo curse'
As well as winning the All-Ireland in 1951, Crossmolina native Loftus also refereed two finals in 1965 and 1968.
Away from GAA, he also ran a medical practice and was the coroner for north Mayo.
Speaking to BBC Sport Northern Ireland prior to Mayo's All-Ireland Final appearance two years ago, Loftus recalled the 1951 All-Ireland triumph over Mayo when he was an unused substitute.
The then 92-year-old also described the long-spoken about tale claiming that a priest had been a curse on Mayo football following the victory as "a bit of hullabaloo".
The story went that the priest had been aggrieved after the lorry transporting the victorious players failed to pay proper respects to a funeral cortege in the town of Foxford. Supposedly the priest decreed that Mayo would not win another All-Ireland until all members of the team had gone to their eternal rest.
"There was no funeral. I don't remember any one….let it go boy," said Dr Mick in a gentle but chiding voice, as he recalled roadside celebrations which he said actually began in the county Roscommon towns of Elphin and Strokestown.
"When we arrived in Ballaghaderreen that's when the celebrations really started. They got a lorry someplace and put us in the back of it and from there down to Ballina, we were in the back of that truck.
"Every town we went through there was cheering and roaring and it was great."