The Lord Mayor of Cork's received a feisty response from his Limerick counterpart after sending a letter outlining plans to bring Liam McCarthy home to Leeside.
Yesterday Ballincollig cllr Colm Kelleher issued an official letter to Daniel Butler on Shannonside saying he believed he "had something belonging to us" and asked him to arrange the trophy's return this Sunday.
Kelleher wrote: "Liam is a native of Cork whose family hail from Ballygarvan.
"One can only imagine that he has found it quite distressing not being back on Leeside in over 16 years.
"As I'm sure you are aware and understand, there is no place like home, and there's certainly no place like Cork!
"Down the years since 2006, there have been sightings of him in Kilkenny, Galway, Tipperary & Clare for some reason (??), and now I believe Limerick.
"Many thanks for looking after him, it won't be forgotten," he added. We're sure Mayor Butler will have an equally formal response to this fighting talk."
Butler's response is probably what you'd expect, he went straight on the offensive and gave it all the cheek he could.
He replied: "Thank you very much for your letter which I found very interesting!.
"Unfortunately, there are a number of glaring inaccuracies in it, that cannot be left stand, and which may be difficult for a Corkonian to accept.
"To begin with, Liam MacCarthy was a native of London, whose mother, Brigid hailed from the hurling heartland of Bruff in County Limerick.
"Brigid was a huge Limerick hurling fan and as you know yourself, mammies are always right and there is no supporter like a Limerick supporter.
"Far be it that we would take something belonging to someone else, but I must point out that Limerick were the very first recipients of the Liam MacCarthy Cup in 1923 (for the 1921 All-Ireland), so Liam is back home and is very comfortable on Shannonside.
"Liam is indeed so comfortable, that he stayed with us for two of the past three years. While I can imagine how anxious you are to see Liam again, I am certain that we will give you a very clear answer on Sunday, and let you have a look at him before he returns to Limerick."
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