Ned Power’s tireless work in the GAA was done at grass roots level and he never really got to grips with the whole idea of politicking and back-slapping that are part and parcel of the job at committee level, or at least when it gets to county level and above.

In 1960, he did reach a point in his life when he could have been an administrator.  It wasn’t to be as he was outvoted by the narrowest of margins.  But, in truth, he was not made of suitable administrative material, in my opinion.  He was far too steadfast of opinion and he would not have been able to play along with such Machiavellian moves as are necessary in such a career.

His apprenticeship in Gaelic sport at inter-county level was with a tight-knit team that rarely asked for anything in return  for their efforts and rarely got it – not even a pair of socks.  Socks were not provided by the County Board.  For the Mount Sion lads, that was all right because their socks were the same colour as those of the county team (blue and white), but for others, they had to go and buy their own socks if they wanted to be properly togged out for their county.

On the day of the All-Ireland Final (exactly 50 years ago to the day), it was the same story, despite the fact that the County Board had mooted the idea of giving the players socks for this special occasion.  However, this never came to pass, so Ned decided to wear two different coloured socks in a form of silent protest that very few actually noticed.  It’s only visible in a colour photograph, but it’s there plain as day.

“My Father: A Hurling Revolutionary, the life and times of Ned Power” is out on paperback at the end of November 2009.  Click here for further information, pre-order and excerpt.