Joe and his father Mick shared a love of Italian football and were season ticket holders at Torino FC
Mick shared a photo of his son this afternoon
FORMER MEP Mick Wallace has paid tribute to his late son Joe who he said will be “there in spirit” at a Seria A football match they were supposed to attend in Italy this weekend.
Joseph (Joe) Barry Wallace (30), tragically died of a brain haemorrhage in hospital in June after falling ill while attending the Beyond the Pale festival in Wicklow with family and friends.
He had undergone surgery on a brain tumour last year and had recovered well but another tumour was discovered in the weeks before his death.
Joe and his father Mick shared a love of Italian football and were season ticket holders at Torino FC.
Mick shared a photo of his son this afternoon
Mick said on Saturday that Joe would be there in spirit when he takes his seat in the Curva Maratona stand for Torino’s Seria A clash with Atlanta at the Stadio Olimpico Grande in Turin on Sunday.
“Four days before my son Joseph got a brain haemorrhage that ended his life, Joseph bought our Torino season tickets for 2024/25 Serie A,” Mick wrote on social media. “I will go the Curva Maratona this weekend without him but he will be in the Maratona in spirit, his favourite football place. #ForzaToro”.
Joe previously played Wexford Youths, the League of Ireland football team now known as Wexford FC, which had been set up by his father.
The pair were both passionate about football and regularly attended games all over the world together.
Speaking at his funeral in June, Mick said they loved attending football together and they were supposed to be in Berlin to watch the Euro’s clash between Italy and Switzerland on the day of the funeral but it wasn’t to be.
He said he had so many happy memories of attending matches with Joe.
“We went to a lot of football together. We followed Italia all over the planet. We went to an awful lot of football in Italy.
“We used to loved to be in the curva [curved stands] of the Italian stadiums, mostly in northern Italy.
“Our favourite was Torino. We used to go to this bar and have a few beers before the match. We got to know a lot of supporters….we loved it so much together.”
Mick also told mourners that Joe’s family would never get over his death.
“I think it is important to say we have no illusions, we’re not going to say were going to recover from the loss because we won’t.
“We’re not going to say we’ll get over his loss because we won’t but we have to cope and cope we will.
“Where we get the strength to do it, I don’t know but we’ll get it somewhere.”
