Laois officially appoint Cahill

His appointment has been known of in GAA circles for the past three weeks, but Dinny Cahill was officially appointed as the new Laois senior hurling manager at a County Board meeting last night.

The Tipperary native, who watched the midlanders' recent county championship with interest, beat off challenges from Pat Roe, Ricky Cashin, Joe Dollard and Seamus Plunkett for the position.

Cahill, who quit as Antrim boss in July, is succeeding his own friend Paudie Butler in the Laois job. Cahill and Butler were selectors together with a Tipperary All-Ireland winning underage team in the 1990s.

Former Laois county stars Joe Dollard (Camross) and John Taylor (Portlaoise) will operate as Cahill's selectors for the coming season.

Cahill does have an initial setback to overcome - star forward Tommy Fitzgerald has departed for a year's break in Australia and he will have to be replaced.