Amid all the bruhaha about the Kerry deal, it is easy to forget that Arrabawn and Tipperary agreed to merge only weeks ago.

One of the factors that I was a little worried about was the news that Conor Ryan would be retiring as CEO of Arrabawn in the spring, so it came as considerable relief to hear that he’s now going to be staying on until October.

It will be all hands on deck at the co-ops for the next few months, so it is only good news that such a very experienced captain will remain at the tiller to steer everyone through the inevitable changes.