The All-Ireland hurling final has unexpectedly ignited a bitter political row between two Dáil foes.
It follows Minister for Transport and Sport Shane Ross appearing to suggest that Independent TD Danny Healy-Rae wasted a good All-Ireland ticket yesterday.
Mr Ross retweeted a picture of the Kerry TD apparently sleeping in a seat in the Hogan Stand.
He then posed the following question: "Is this a waste of a good ticket?!!"
Is this a waste of a good ticket?!! pic.twitter.com/oKYXLIN9gl
— Shane Ross (@Shane_RossTD) August 20, 2018
Mr Healy-Rae has responded to the minister's apparent jibe by saying he has not missed a hurling final for 25 years, including Limerick's crushing defeat to Offaly in 1994.
Mr Healy-Rae said Mr Ross was just trying to "make a man of himself".
He said that he had closed his eyes for two to three minutes at half-time during the minor final.
He said that he was tired because he had been coordinating a bus to bring patients needing cataracts operations from Kerry to Belfast at 6am on Saturday.
The TD, who does not drink alcohol, said he was out late that night to celebrate Kilgarvan's intermediate county hurling final victory and he then got an early train to Dublin on Sunday.
Kilgarvan is one of a relatively small number of areas in Kerry that are regarded as hurling strongholds.
He said that he did not get the ticket through any political links but from people who share his love of hurling.
"I did nothing wrong by closing my eyes for a few minutes. I've been working hard all summer helping people," he said.
