Ó Flatharta and Gallagher to take charge of county teams

Brothers in arms in the cause of Westmeath football last season, Tomás Ó Flatharta and Eamon Gallagher will setting off on different paths in 2009 with both still intrinsically linked in guiding the county"s footballers and hurlers to success. Last Wednesday night at a well attended meeting of Westmeath County Board in Cusack Park, Mullingar, Kerry native, Ó Flatharta and Eamon Gallagher, the former St. Brigids and Westmeath hurling star, were ratified as the men to take charge of the county"s footballers and hurlers, respectively for the coming year. Since he first arrived on the Westmeath scene, in the halcyon days of fellow county man, Páidí Ó Sé, the quiet spoken bank official has played a major role in driving the Lake County on. Originally a selector when Westmeath claimed an historic first senior provincial football title in 2004, Ó Flatharta stepped into the breach when the Ventry publican moved on. Working alongside former county star, Paul Conway and the aforementioned Eamon Gallagher, Tomás guided Westmeath to success in Division 2 of the Allianz National Football League in the campaign just ended, thus ensuring a demanding start to their 2009 campaign. The departure of Gallagher to pastures new, means that the county will have a new selector in the form of Pat Flanagan, the man who propelled Tyrrellspass to back to back Championship successes in 2006/2007. He has proved to be an inspirational figure in the rebirth of the Tidy Town side"s fortunes and, given that he his relinquishing that post, his dedication to the club was underlined when he was patrolling the sideline as the Sky Blues tasted defeat in the Feis Cup Final. Like Flanagan, Eamonn Gallagher has been building a big reputation for himself as a manager who gets results. He has guided the fortunes of both Raharney and Killucan over the past few years and the hurling brethren from Joristown duly delivered when they picked up the Westmeath Examiner Cup this year. Just two weeks ago, Raharney earned great credit for themselves when they put up a very creditable performance against a star studded Balllyhal He is also credited with enhancing the stock of the hurlers sister club, Killucan and the Saffrons have certainly benefitted from the talents of the former county hurling star. Like Ó Flatharta, the St. Brigids clubman will have have his work cut out for him in the pre-season as he plots a course for the hurlers who will be plying their trade in a very competitive Division 2 this year, where they will hoping to have a good crack at new Leinster Championship imports, Antrim, along the likes of former Munster champions, Waterford. Eamon will be joined on the management team by Raharney clubman, Nickey Weir, Clonkill"s Sean Loughlin and Noel Geraghty from Castletown-Geoghegan while the fitness coach will be Padraig Lynn who has previous experience of working with the county"s footballers. In wishing both sets of team management every success for 2009, the County Board Chairman, Mr. Tom Farrell also advised the delegates that the Hilamar Hotel have agreed to continue their generous sponsorship of the county"s footballers for the coming twelve months while the County Board has agreed a three year deal on gear for both the footballers and hurlers.