The Hanly Group recently captured their first Connacht inter-firms senior football title before losing to a Colm 'Gooch' Cooper-inspired AIB Kerry in the All-Ireland semi-final. Here, joint team manager Gerry King shares his recollections on a successful campaign for the Elphin-based firm. Every year, the GAA's inter-firms competition provides tremendous enjoyment for hundreds of company employees across the country. And despite receiving little or no media coverage, the inter-firm championships are keenly contested with county, provincial and All-Ireland titles being much sought-after prizes. In 2007, the Hanly Group fielded an inter-firms football team for only the second time and, to the delight of all involved, they claimed their first Connacht title before going on to lose to a star-studded AIB Kerry in the All-Ireland semi-final. "It was a good achievement to win the provincial title at our second attempt," enthuses Gerry King, who was joint manager of the Hanly Group team along with his brother Pat, John Moffat and Vincent O'Rourke. "After losing to EDA Cox in the first round in 2006, we wanted to do a bit better than last year and it was great to be able to put some silverware on the sideboard. We only played one game in winning the Connacht title, but I don't think that should take away from what was a fine achievement by the lads." Headquartered in Elphin, Co. Roscommon and with offices in Dublin and London, the Hanly Group comprises six autonomous firms specialising in six different areas of quarrying and construction. The inter-firms team consisted of players from within the six divisions as well as from locally based sub-contracting firms, including King & Moffat Electrical, Finnerty Plumbing and M & M Carpentry. Gerry recalls that the idea of entering an inter-firms team was first mooted by Charlie Reynolds and joint manager Vincent O'Rourke. "Charlie and Vincent first suggested it and having received the green light from the company directors Bertie and Alan Hanly, we decided to give it a go," explains Gerry. "The Hanly Group have been very supportive of us and have looked after us very well. We are also appreciative of the support and players we received from King & Moffat Electrical and the other companies involved." The Hanly Group qualified directly for the Connacht final where they squared up to Allergan of Mayo on November 7. The Hanly Group were on top throughout and ran out emphatic winners by 5-17 to 0-8. "We were expecting a tough game, but the lads played very well and won by a big margin in the end. We hadn't done any training, but fortunately most of the lads were in good shape after being involved with their clubs up until October or November." The Hanly Group were due to face AIB Kerry in the All-Ireland semi-final on December 12, but the game was deferred until January 26. The long journey to Dr Crokes in Killarney seemed to take its toll on the Connacht champions who were well off the pace in the first half and trailed by 0-2 to 1-8 at half-time. Kerry star Colm 'Gooch' Cooper, who was playing his last game before his departure to the US for an extended break, was at his mercurial best on his home pitch as AIB built up a big lead in the opening half, and the Hanly Group would have found themselves further in arrears had Cooper not struck the crossbar in the 30th minute after collecting a long Alan O'Regan delivery. Despite the presence of county stars Declan Meehan (Galway), Derek Connellan (Roscommon), Niall McCready (Donegal) and Michael Duignan (Leitrim) in their line-up, the visitors struggled for possession, especially at midfield where David 'Ogie' Moran was dominant. Cooper and Mickey Collins had posted early points before Dara Long's 14th minute goal put AIB on their way. Hanly's could only manage a Connellan free and one from play by Alan O'Hara in the first half and despite a brief third quarter revival, when Connellan converted three more frees, they never looked like breaching a Kerry defence in which Barry O'Shea, Maurice Cronin, Alan Creagh and Fergus McAuliffe were on top. The Hanly Group squad included players from five different counties - Roscommon, Leitrim, Longford, Galway and Donegal - and was backboned by the aforementioned Meehan, Connellan, McCready and Duignan as well as former Leitrim player Shane Canning. The Hanly Group, or Hanly Brothers as it is also known, was established in Elphin nearly 40 years ago by Bertie Hanly, who continues to spearhead the operation with the help of his sons Alan and Enda. Since it commenced business in 1969, the Group has gone from strength to strength and now employs 252 directly, including 130 in the quarry division, as well as a large number of sub-contractors. The Group initially specialised in blasting, crushing and the sale of quarry aggregates before expanding into the manufacture of concrete blocks, and the supply of readymix, agricultural lime and all grades of hardcore in the 1970s. It also operated a successful plant hire business throughout the same decade. Today, Hanly's operate one of the largest and most modern limestone quarries in the West of Ireland, supplying building materials to the West and Midlands regions. The Group has rock reserves to last at today's production rate for approximately another 70 years. In the 1980s, Hanly's branched into construction and this led to the formation of Laragan Developments Ltd in 1995 - three years after the Group first began building industrial and residential units in Dublin. In 2000, the Group established its own architectural and civil engineering consultancy and this was followed in 2004 by the transformation of Lough Rynn Castle Estate in Co. Leitrim into a luxury 58-bedroom hotel together with a world class Spa and Leisure facility and a championship golf course designed by Nick Faldo, which is due to open later this year. Lough Rynn Castle retains all the splender that underlines its ancient history, historical documents, artefacts, furnishings, open fires, wood panelling, decorative stone, glass and plasterwork. The Castle offers it guests splendid walkways through its walled gardens and meandering corridors. In 2005, Hanly's purchased a number of strategic sites in London which are now being developed, and are also currently developing Kilronan Castle in North Co. Roscommon with the aim of providing a hotel of outstanding quality which will rank with the best of castles and other historic property hotels in Ireland. It will be a luxury landmark facility for counties Roscommon, Leitrim and the entire North-West region of Ireland. Hanly's also own a fleet of over 60 trucks that deliver quality construction and agricultural products throughout the Midlands and West. In summary, the Hanly Group focuses its considerable expertise in three key areas - quality material production, investment handling and design and build projects. In all three areas, it continues to establish industry benchmarks through the quality of its projects and the speed of their execution. The Hanly Group team that defeated Allergan of Westport in the Connacht senior inter-firms football final was: Tony Gill (Western Gaels); Aidan Brady (Killoe Young Emmets), Morgan Shanley (Boornacoola), James Callery (Elphin); Ray Rogers (St. Barry's), Shane Canning (Mohill), Declan Meehan (Caltra); Michael Duignan (Boornacoola), Jonathan Harte (St. Barry's); David Parker (Strokestown), Benny Rock (Elphin), Derek Connellan (Kilmore); Ray Curley (Newtowncashel), Pat Caslin (Kilmore), Paul McGovern (Allen Gaels). Subs: Sean Doherty, Seamus Stenson, Padraig King, Alan O'Hara, David Guckin, Terry Earley, Gerry Fitzmaurice, Emmet Glancy, Stephen McQueeney, Niall McCready, Colin Farrell and JJ Greene. Tweet

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