Born in Limerick, brought up in Dublin, and then back to Limerick fifteen years ago, Paul Cunningham, had a superb career at rugby both as a player and as coach.

But the game was in his genes from early on as his father Joss played with Cork Constitution and then Garryowen as a prop or hooker.

"My father would have played with Gordon Wood back in the 60's and with the Murphys in Cork," he said.

"My first days at school were spent at Hollypark Primary School in Dublin and then I moved on to St. Michael's for my secondary education. While there I played lots of rugby but never played schools cup. I played back row, prop and hooker while there and I also played a bit of basketball," he said.

Next stop on the education ladder was at Trinity College. "While there I played rugby at A level and the highlight was a win in the annual colours match. Amongst those I played with in those days were Johnny Sexton, later a star with St. Mary's, Mick Fitzgibbon, later a star with Shannon and Munster, Paddy Johns, who played with Ulster and Ireland, Ian Morgan, Jim Sherwin, junior."

Paul is an all-round sportsman and he played tennis, cricket, basketball and golf, "all socially". Having graduated from Trinity Paul returned to Limerick as an accountant with KPMG for three and a half years.

Sporting wise, though, rugby was his competitive sport. And on his return to the city he immediately joined his dad's former club.

In rapid time he was given a Munster contract and he represented the province about fifteen times. "I played with the likes of John Fitzgerald, Peter Clohessy, Mick Galwey, Ger Earls, David Corkery and Liam Toland. It was just the arrival of the professional ere and with Munster we won a couple of interprovincial titles. The likes of Ronan O'Gara were just beginning to emerge on the scene. It is totally different now than when it was in my time. We had a lot of fun" he said.

When his times as a professional rugby player ended he returned to his accountancy job and worked in Shannon for a time and then joined BDO here in the city. Now he is in partnership with Helena Tiernan and Peter Walsh in the company known as Tiernan Walsh Cunningham.

Paul had many rugby highlights. "I won an All Ireland League medal and three Munster senikor cup medals as a player and coached Garryowen to win both of those titles" he said modestly.

"A particular happy memory was my first Munster cup final win when we beat Young Munster. Our team included such as Ian Barry, Dan Larkin, John Giltenane, Richard Costello, Philip Danaher and Kenny Smith" he said. His other cup wins were in 1995 and 1999. "The Munster cup is a great competition, always was and always will be" he said.