A week on from Ciaran McDonald's captivating first ever TV interview, Diarmuid Connolly has also broken his silence by giving his first interview to the press yesterday.

Reporters finally got to hear what the brilliant Dublin forward's voice sounds like when he spoke at the launch of the 2015 Dublin senior football championship at Parnell Park, having been asked to do so by his St. Vincent's club-mate and Dublin GAA's Commercial and Marketing Manager Mossy Quinn.

Asked why he had decided to end his self-imposed vow of silence, nine years after he joined the Dublin senior ranks, Connolly replied: "I've been asked to be club captain of St Vincent's this year so I was conscious I wanted to promote Vincent's in the right light today with the launch of the Dublin championships.

"I try and help out the club if at all possible. We were only down there a couple of Saturdays ago giving out Easter eggs to the kids. 200, 250 kids down there on a Saturday morning. Trying to get into the car park myself was a bit of a disaster!

"As a player, you don't have too much time to give in that capacity, but it is something I will probably look at in the future, take on a younger side maybe and develop the younger lads."

Connolly took the opportunity to pay tribute to his former St. Vincent's and Dublin coach Dave Billings, who passed away on Wednesday.

"He brought me into the Dublin set-up when 'Pillar' Caffrey was the manager," the 27-year-old said.

"I was only 18. An absolutely massive influence on me. He gave me great guidance in the game, on and off the field - very saddened to hear he had passed.

He always had a smile on his face, just his approach to life. He always had a bit of humour to what he was doing. I was a little bit naïve coming into a set-up where there are media obligations and all this sort of stuff.

"He directed me in the right path. He was a really good coach."

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