Liam the second Laois president

LIAM O’NEILL will be the second Laois man to serve as GAA president when he takes over from Christy Cooney in 12 months.

The first was Bob O’Keeffe (after whom the Leinster senior hurling trophy is named) in 1935. He also followed a Cork president — Sean McCarthy.

Outside of the GAA, O’Neill gained notoriety when he won the trust of the local community in Trumera in helping to convert the local national school to a Gaelscoil.