By Niall Gartland

IT’S a new season for the Tyrone senior camogs and also a new era on the management front as Mayo native Paul O’Grady has been installed as manager of the team.

O’Grady made the move up here a year or so ago and made an immediate impact on the hurling front, guiding Omagh St Enda’s to last year’s Tyrone Junior Hurling Championship.

He remains in charge of the Omagh hurlers but he’s also been brought on board with the Tyrone camogs, who take on Mayo in their Division Four opener this Saturday at Tattyreagh.

O’Grady, a former Mayo hurler, says that one of his pressing priorities is the strength of the panel as a whole, and he hopes that even more girls will come on board in the weeks to come.

“We had our first official training session on January 7 and it’s going well. Numbers have been steady so far and we’ve brought in quite a few year girls. We’ve moving in the right direction and when the club leagues start we’ll hopefully bring in a couple of more girls as well. Our goal is to make the panel as big as possible, that’s the plan anyway.

In a twist of fate, O’Brady will come up against his former coach Colm O’Mara in Saturday’s round one encounter at Tattyreagh.

“Colm’s my last coach at intercounty level, we’re very friendly and still keep in touch. He’s taken over the Mayo senior camogs, that’s a big move and I was quite surprised when they got him, he’s highly sought after.

“It’ll be interesting to see what happens. I was a player under him so presumably I know more about his coaching style than he knows about mine!”

O’Grady is joined on the line by Gerard Fox, Liam Flanagan and Niall Donnelly. Joint-captains of the Tyrone team this year are Una McCann and Shauna Donnelly, while Roisin McErlean is vice-captain.

It’s early days in the new year but the Tyrone camogs have made impressive strides in recent seasons and won the Division Four title in 2023, defeating Mayo in the final. They’ve also done well at underage level, so they’re on a solid footing.

“We’ll take it step-by-step but I’m a positive person by nature and I’d be hopeful we can make our mark when the championship comes round.

“It’ll be great to get our first competitive outing this weekend, it’s in Tattyreagh. I wasn’t aware of the whole history of camogie in Tattyreagh until recently but I’ve learnt about it and the club is steeped in it, so we can’t wait to get playing there.”