Paul Tansey

I was sad to hear of the sudden death of Paul Tansey last Sunday. He died in the middle of a game of tennis - a comfortingly good way for him to go, in the midst of vigorous life. I didn't know him that well. We went to Aintree a few years ago with a couple of other friends for the first two days of the National meeting, and I met him from time to time at dinner parties or in Nesbitt's. He was the most affable of guys.  We were hardly aligned politically but with Paul that was irrelevant. He had a remarkable talent for enjoying life and getting on with people. He loved to talk about horses and my rancher friend from California who was with us at Aintree established an instant rapport with him, and engagements with the South Tipperary Hunt were planned. As were games of tennis with me. His funeral mass in St. Patrick's Church in Monkstown was very well attended and provided a classy send off. His family were cool and articulate and his daughter was a perfect blend of true emotion and accurate remembrance. The coffin was carried out to the tune of "You've Got a Friend" - perfectly apt.