New Longford senior hurling supremo Diarmuid Cahill targets June Croke Park return

Ahead of Saturday's opening Allianz National Hurling League Division 4 clash between Longford and Warwickshire at Glennon Brothers Pearse Park which throws-in at 2pm, the new Longford manager Diarmuid Cahill has been looking ahead to the League opener.

Cahill only took over the Longford hotseat after Christmas and acknowledged that he did not have long to familiarise himself with the players.

“I came in at the eleventh hour just at the start of the new year but in fairness to the players we hit the ground running and they have reacted well with training going really well and everything has been going in the right direction.”

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Diarmuid has a lot of pedigree as a player and also as a coach. As a player he has won titles with his local club in Tipperary, Kilruane MacDonaghs, winning a Kildare Senior Hurling Championship with Coill Dubh, and a Christy Ring All-Ireland crown with Kildare.

He managed the Westmeath Camogie team to an All-Ireland Intermediate semi-final; he was part of the Kildare Under 20 management team and in 2024 he was the coach of the Ballinamere team that narrowly lost the Offaly Senior Hurling Final to Kilcormac-Killoughey. The Tipp native believes that this experience will be of benefit coming into an inter-county set-up like Longford.

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“Yes, I believe so. It may be my first experience with a county team at senior level, but I have been around set-ups the last number of years and I have learned a lot. I have also picked up a lot from my father Dinny (Cahill senior led Portumna to an All-Ireland Senior Hurling Club title and he also managed the Antrim Senior team).

"I am trying to emulate my father’s success and although I may not be as good as him, I have a lot of passion for the game and although my playing days are over, I have enjoyed taking the step into management and coaching.

"As mentioned, I was lucky to be given the chance with Ballinamere last year and to help bring them to the Offaly final which we narrowly lost. That experience and the knowledge I gained from good people at Ballinamere will definitely help me with Longford.”

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Speaking about his management team Cahill is still looking to add to his backroom team, but he has added the Under 20 Longford management team of Tommy Hawes and Brian Crossan to his staff, a move which he considers very important.

“I would prefer to have a bigger team but we will grow that, but I felt that involving Tommy and Brian in my backroom staff was vital and a great link with the under 20 players coming through the system into the senior panel. Having Tommy and Brian involved is a natural transition from Under 20 to senior level and they can help the younger players to understand the commitment needed and to help them develop and represent their county at senior level.

“Regarding training, the numbers are high and I am very happy with the application of the players. For those travelling a distance, we only require them to be at one of the two midweek sessions, then everyone is together for our weekend sessions on the Friday and Saturday. They are also doing their own training and playing with their clubs.”

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Finally Diarmuid set out his goals for the season ahead. “I want our players to learn from the league and the entire panel will be given plenty of game time in the league which we will use to develop the players and prepare for the championship. Everyone will be given a chance to shine and stake their claim for a place on our Lory Meagher Cup side. We all have our eye on getting the team back to Croke Park on the Bank Holiday weekend in June.”