O Cofaigh Byrne can target success in blue as well as red and white

SKY-PATROLLER: Peadar Ó Cofaigh Byrne of Cuala in action against Liam Jackson of Ardee St Mary's. Pic: Stephen Marken/Sportsfile

A couple of minutes after UCD's big Sigerson Cup win over UCC in early 2022, UCD manager John Divilly spoke with enthusiasm about Peadar O Cofaigh Byrne's career prospects.

The son of RTÉ presenter Blathnaid Ni Chofaigh was fresh off an O'Byrne Cup outing with Dublin and looked every bit an inter-county regular as he tore Billy Morgan's crew asunder, scoring a goal and setting up two more.

"Peadar has huge potential, I hope he really realises that potential and goes on to become a big, big player for Dublin," said Divilly who stressed that consistency would be the big thing for the man mountain midfielder.

Three years on, O Cofaigh Byrne has made solid if not quite startling progress on that front with 2024 a breakout season of sorts in blue. 

The Cuala colossus played in five of Dublin's National League games last year, starting three of them, yet when it came to the Championship he was brought on for just two games, against Meath and Cavan.

In all, he has made 18 appearances for Dublin across all competitions since his senior debut against Tyrone in the 2019 Championship.

Now with Brian Fenton and James McCarthy out of the picture, nobody will hear opportunity knocking quite as loudly in 2025 as the six-foot-six-inch powerhouse.

Peter Duffy, next to him in Cuala's midfield, has impressed in their historic run to the rescheduled All-Ireland club semi-final too, and played in the 2023 and 2024 O'Byrne Cups, but O Cofaigh Byrne must view himself as Fenton's heir apparent.

"Peadar is special, he's huge," said O Cofaigh Byrne's Cuala team-mate Luke Keating. "I think the two of them have come on this year a lot. No one wanted to see Brian Fenton and James McCarthy retiring but certainly if you're any midfielder on the club scene in Dublin, and playing at that level, you're looking at that and kind of saying, 'Jeez, I could give that a go'."

Dessie Farrell will undoubtedly be keeping close tabs on how the pair perform at Kingspan Breffni in Cavan. 

Captain Peter Laffey has been terrific in the Coolera/Strandhill midfield, shooting the winning score last November as they clinched back-to-back county titles, so that battle alone could be hugely significant.

"There is opportunity there," agreed Keating of Dublin prospects O Cofaigh Byrne and Duffy. "I'm sure if they keep doing what they're doing and if they keep working hard at what they're doing, they'll get opportunities within that setup. But it's definitely there for them, yeah."