'There's a perception that grass is greener outside. They think coaches are better'
THE NEW MANAGER of the Westmeath hurlers wants to make one thing clear about what this job means to him.
“I’m there for the right reasons. It’s not a CV filler for me, not that there’s anything wrong with people doing that. This is the ultimate job for me.”
This is a passion project for Kevin O’Brien. He’s the first Westmeath native to fill this role since Eamonn Gallagher of the St Brigid’s club in 2009, and he can’t quite comprehend why an internal appointment has taken this long. The Clonkill man applied for the job in 2024 but lost out to Limerick man Seoirse Bulfin.
The county is in a funk right now as they prepare to drop down to Division 2A in 2026. Their championship form has stalled of late too. The 2021 Joe McDonagh Cup champions were in the Liam MacCarthy tier up until 2023, but they haven’t truly threatened a return since.
O’Brien is just two weeks into his appointment, but has already assembled a list of over 50 names who he will consider to be part of the Westmeath revival.
“If you’re a coach or a manager within your county, the ultimate (aim) is to be the manager of your senior (county team),” says O’Brien.
“You have to go back a long way before Westmeath appointed an internal manager. It’s not something that’s normally done within Westmeath. For whatever reason, I don’t know. Maybe there would be strong club rivalries, but that’d be all put aside with me.”
The county’s apparent preference for external appointments is puzzling to O’Brien, who managed his local Clonkill to county titles in 2018 and 2019, as well as taking charge of the Westmeath U20 hurlers for the 2020, 2021, and 2024 campaigns.
Bulfin was the latest in a succession of outside selections for the Westmeath hurling job. He was previously part of Davy Fitzgerald’s All-Ireland winning backroom team with Clare in 2013, but his appointment did not receive widespread support.
And in the wake of his exit, the county chairman Frank Mescal was quoted in the Westmeath Examiner as saying Bulfin felt unable to continue in the role due to “torturous” criticism.
Bulfin’s predecessors include Shane O’Brien [Dublin], Joe Quaid [Limerick] and Michael Ryan [Waterford]. Joe Fortune, a native of Wexford who is more commonly known for his work in Dublin hurling circles, also occupied the role.
They all delivered varied levels of success to Westmeath during their terms of service. Shane O’Brien was in charge for the Joe McDonagh triumph in 2021 while Fortune oversaw a famous rally from 17 points down to defeat Wexford in the 2023 Leinster championship.
Those achievements cannot be disregarded but Kevin O’Brien feels his county should look inward and consider the coaching talent that exists within their own borders.
“There’s a perception that grass is greener outside. They always seem to think that coaches are better outside. I spoke about it in my interview and a player pathway came up.
“There has to be a pathway for coaches and managers to try and get the flagship job, the big job within the county to be entrusted with it. There has to be a pathway for coaches and managers to try and get the flagship job.
“If you’re a coach of an underage and you have them aspirations, [and] ‘look Kevin O’Brien from Clonkill is after doing it. He’s after getting to manage the seniors.’ They see a pathway. It’s important because down through the years, you’re volunteering with underage and development squads.
“The talent is definitely there. It’s just trying to bring it forward and maybe take it up a level.”
O’Brien can still appreciate the benefits of turning to other hurling counties for expertise, having previously worked under Kilkenny legend Michael Fennelly with the Offaly hurlers. He came away from that experience with a deeper understanding of the importance of creating a strong culture within the dressing room.
“You learn an awful lot,” he adds. “Even that attitude Kilkenny brings. They just seem to do it better than everyone else.”
O’Brien has adopted a similar approach by bringing in some outside help to the Westmeath backroom team. Damien Coleman is a highly rated coach from Galway who has worked with four-time All-Ireland winners Portumna as well as the famous Cushendall club in Antrim.
Clare’s two-time All-Ireland winner Ollie Baker is also on the Westmeath ticket as a performance coach. O’Brien played hurling with Baker when the pair were completing their Garda training in Templemore. Baker is a resident of Westmeath and has previously managed the Offaly hurlers.
“We don’t have any Ireland hurling winners from Westmeath. Ollie’s living over around that lawn there. He’s a no-nonsense type of character. I just felt that Ollie could bring something.
“From just talking to players, they were saying that you see counties with these lads on the sideline and All-Ireland winners there carrying spare hurls and stuff. I spoke to Ollie about would he be interested in a role, helping players with their performance. It might be a little word here and there.
“Ollie might meet them for a coffee, or he’d be there on game day and stuff like that. I think that can be very beneficial to lads. This lad has won two All-Irelands.
“He’s seen it all. Just a little word from Ollie might just put lads right.”
Westmeath slumped out of Division 1B this year with a scoring difference of -58 and just one victory over Carlow in the final round. And since their return to the Joe McDonagh Cup, Westmeath have fallen short of a place in the final after two mid-table finishes in 2024 and 2025.
This is a job that O’Brien has long desired for, but he says that the players who make the final cut will be the ones to dictate Westmeath’s ambitions for 2026.
“There’s no point in me setting goals for Westmeath. I want the players to decide what the Westmeath senior goals are for 2026. As a management team, and backroom team, we’re here to try and facilitate the group of players and help them reach their goals.
“They should come in as a group when we have our panel of 35 or whatever we have going forward into 2A and Joe McDonagh, that they have set their goals themselves. They have to be up for the fight.”
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