Clare legend Jamesie O'Connor wants Munster hurling fans to vote with their feet this summer.

An All-Ireland winner with the Banner County in 1995 and '97, O'Connor knows all about the special magic of Munster championship day and he is urging supporters of Cork, Waterford, Limerick, Tipperary and his own native county to come out in force to show their appreciation:

"I was involved with the Munster Railway Cup team earlier this year and it was incredible to see the conditioning of these lads, he says in The Irish Examiner.

"I knew that Clare were training savage hard but it was amazing to see the shape the lads from the other counties were in.

"They're professionals in all but name, and I would love to see us getting back to the days like when Clare and Limerick clashed in 1996 and there were 35 or 40,000 people squeezed into the Gaelic Grounds.

"I'd love to see Clare and Cork or Clare and Waterford playing in front of packed houses in earlier rounds before the Munster final, I think that it's the least the players deserve.

"I hope that this year the public vote with their feet, will appreciate the product that we have and the efforts made and get out there and support their counties.

"I'm really looking forward to it, it has the makings of a great campaign.

"To me, the Munster championship was special, it is special, and I think that it'll always be special. This year in particular, every one of them will take to the field thinking that they have a chance of winning it.

"I think that this year's championship is wide open. You look back on who has won it in the past 20 years, Tipp have six, Cork have five, Waterford have four, Clare have three and Limerick have two.

"There is no other provincial championship that has that array of winners, and each of the five has been in a Munster final in the last five or six years." Tweet

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