Sport

Pressure pays off as Dunne is appointed Wexford manager

LIAM DUNNE has taken on the mantle of Wexford senior hurling manager

Thu Nov 10 2011 - 00:00

LIAM DUNNE has taken on the mantle of Wexford senior hurling manager. Dunne’s appointment was ratified at a special county board meeting last night when delegates met following a club forum.

While Dunne had virtually ruled himself out of contention over the past number of months, his exploits with Oulart-the-Ballagh convinced the special committee to apply extra pressure in securing their man.

Having guided Oulart-the-Ballagh to a third successive county title, and seeing off Kilkenny champions James Stephens in the provincial club quarter-final last Sunday, Dunne was always a front runner for the post in the eyes of model county hurling supporters.

Dunne replaces Colm Bonnar who resigned the post following Wexford’s qualifier exit to Limerick last July. On Sunday next he will be leading Oulart-the-Ballagh in their provincial club semi-final clash with Laois champions Clough-Ballacolla.

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Dunne was centre-back on the last All-Ireland-winning Wexford side in 1996. His backroom team will be announced at a later date.

Jason Ryan was ratified as senior football manager for a fifth successive term, while Kevin Kehoe who guided the county to a first Leinster Under-21 football title this year has also been returned for a second term.

JIMMY DEENIHAN, Minister for Arts, Heritage and Gaeltacht Affairs, has guaranteed €120,000 to protecting the IFI Irish Film Archive, which includes rare footage of the some of the great moments in Gaelic games, writes Gavin Cummiskey.

The former Kerry footballer (1970-82), a Fine Gael TD since 1987, made the offer in Croke Park yesterday at the DVD launch of the GAA Football Gold: All-Ireland Football Highlights 1947-1959. This Government support is expected to go into the archive preservation fund set up by the Irish Film Institute, which currently has no space in their Temple Bar building to accept more rare footage. They are attempting to raise €300,000 to relocate to a research centre on the NUI Maynooth campus.

Dublin football managers, past and present, Pat Gilroy and Kevin Heffernan, were also at the museum yesterday, along with Bernard Brogan. In a light-hearted moment, Deenihan took credit for introducing Bernard Brogan senior to his wife Maria, a native of Listowel. “The people of Listowel take great pride in the achievements of the Brogan boys and, as well, Ireland outhalf Jonathan Sexton,” Deenihan said.

Heffernan was joined by several former team-mates who featured in the Dublin teams that contested the 1955 and ’58 All-Ireland finals.

The footage on the DVD comes from an American production team present in Croke Park during the period with the dulcet tones of Michael O’Hehir also prevalent throughout. “Not only is it a sporting commentary but a social commentary of that time,” added Deenihan, who also noted that nine of the GAA team of the 20th century came from this period.

Priced at €19.99, the DVD is available from www.ifi.ie, the IFI Film Shop and several retailers, with profits going to the archive preservation fund. “The films have been painstakingly remastered and digitised . . .”, read a press release. “The archive holds thousands of reels of commercial and amateur footage, a moving image record of Ireland’s history from 1897 to the present.”