Gaelic Games

Niall Ó Ceallacháin eager to see Dublin hurling move on to the next level

New manager has helped transform Na Fianna and now wants to see Dublin regularly contesting for Leinster and All-Ireland honours

Niall Ó Ceallacháin: 'The challenge now is how do we drive things on to be consistently competing to actually win when it comes to it.' Photograph: Tom Maher/Inpho
Niall Ó Ceallacháin: 'The challenge now is how do we drive things on to be consistently competing to actually win when it comes to it.' Photograph: Tom Maher/Inpho
Paul Keane
Fri Oct 18 2024 - 06:00

It’s only three years ago that Na Fianna made it to their first ever Dublin senior hurling championship final. Last year, they finally won one.

On Saturday week the Glasnevin club will be chasing back-to-back titles when they contest their fourth county final in a row as they take on Kilmacud Crokes.

It’s an impressive rise from the periphery of success to setting the agenda in Dublin hurling and one which Niall Ó Ceallacháin, who has been in charge of Na Fianna throughout, is now aiming to repeat with Dublin.

Like Na Fianna before that first final appearance in 2021, Dublin have operated largely on the fringes of success since winning the Leinster championship in 2013 under Anthony Daly.

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Speaking at a Staycity Aparthotels event to launch Dublin’s new alternate kit for the 2025 and 2026 seasons, new hurling manager Ó Ceallacháin said he is targeting ‘the next level’ with Dublin before outlining what that level is.

“The next level is where we are regularly competing on a consistent basis to win Leinster and All-Irelands and national leagues,” said Ó Ceallacháin. “And that’s where we need to go.

“There’s a lot of water under the bridge since that team in 2013. I have no real interest in looking back in that sense. It’s easy to get frustrated by it but the flipside of that is what do you do about it?

Dublin captain John McCaffrey raises the O'Keeffe cup following victory over Galway in the 2013 Leinster final. Photograph: Morgan Treacy/Inpho
Dublin captain John McCaffrey raises the O'Keeffe cup following victory over Galway in the 2013 Leinster final. Photograph: Morgan Treacy/Inpho

“How I genuinely see it is that a huge amount of work has gone into getting Dublin to where it is now. On a regular basis now, the Dublin minor and under-20 and senior teams are all competitive at a level they weren’t previously.

“The reality is that the obvious challenge is to take it to that next step then, where you’re consistently competing to win Leinster championships or All-Irelands. Again, the reality in that regard is that it’s been sporadic where we have competed to win Leinster championships at senior level, or All-Irelands, they’ve been few and far between.

“So it’s easy to look back and be frustrated by that. But it is a fact that Dublin is in a very strong situation from a platform perspective and a structure side of things. The teams are consistently competing. The challenge now is how do we drive things on to be consistently competing to actually win when it comes to it. So it’s easy to get frustrated but our challenge is to move things on.”

Ó Ceallacháin and his entirely home-grown back room team take over from Micheál Donoghue, who returned to manage his native Galway. Donoghue used 37 different players across the 2024 season, from the start of the Walsh Cup to their All-Ireland quarter-final defeat to Cork.

Donoghue struggled with a high turnover of players each season and Ó Ceallacháin said that, so far, no one has retired or opted out for 2025.

“The general response has been really, really positive is what I’d say,” he said. “I made it clear to everybody that we’re going to need everybody.

“I’m in touch with all the players, to be honest, both the existing panel and, as I mentioned, we’re going to need everybody who wants to move this thing on to the next level, be that the existing panel, but also maybe a few lads who haven’t been around over the last while either. We’ll be looking at that over the next month or two.”