DIARMUID Mullins (Mungret St Paul’s) is manager of All-Ireland Minor Hurling Championship Finalists Limerick.
As a quality player, he famously won back-to-back All-Ireland Minor Football Championships with his native Laois in 1996/’97.
In a previous stint as minor manager with Limerick, Mullins guided the county to Munster Championship wins in 2019/’20 and later served for a while as Under-20 boss.
Mullins is joined in the backroom team by Brian Sexton (Bruree), Jody Hannon (Adare), Ger Kelleher (Dromin/Athlacca), Tom Murphy (Doon, via Offaly) and Liam Reale (Hospital/Herbertstown), a finalist in the 2006 1,500m European Athletics Championship in Sweden.
There is also an involvement by Mikey Kiely (Ballybrown), strength and conditioning coach with Limerick’s back-to-back All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championshp winning side of 2020/’21.
On qualification for this weekend’s showpiece, Mullins told Live 95: “It’s absolutely fantastic for this group, all 37 of them who have worked really, really hard since last November. And, so it’s great for all of those players now to have an opportunity of something special…they’re a group that are improving all the time and giving everything they possibly can.”
Limerick will aim to reverse the outcomes against Tipp of two previous encounters this season (Tipperary 2-13, Limerick 0-16 at the Gaelic Grounds and Tipperary 3-16, Limerick 0-18 at Semple Stadium, Thurles), in the group phase and Munster Final.
“That’s the plan anyway,” Mullins stated. “It’s easy to say that, but they have been really, really good…winning all their matches, but we’re improving all the time and the bottom line is that the two best teams in the country are in the All-Ireland Final.”
The day job for Mullins is as Principal of Crescent College Comprehensive.
He is a nephew of the late Dublin football legend Brian Mullins.
Tipperary are under the management of James Woodlock, a three-time Munster Senior Hurling Championship winner.