He spoke to him about his careers as a player and manager.

Here’s how it went:

When you began your career, was there ever a player or manager you idolised?

‘When I started my career, not really, I was 18 with Celtic and you know a lot of good players were there. Henrik Larsson was one. It was more important for me to get to that level and stay at that level, and it was a great experience’.

Tell me how it felt to play for Ireland while Mick McCarthy was manager.

‘It was very good. I began working with him in the Irish camp, and then when I joined Sunderland he would have been the manager there. So he’s been fantastic’.

Looking back on your career, what are you most proud of?

‘I’m just proud as always that I had a long career, a lot of injuries aswell, so probably getting back from those injuries. Along with playing for Cork City and playing internationally for Ireland which is always a good thing’.

When you went into managing, was there ever a manager or manager’s style you idolised?

‘Well we had a few, obviously Martin O’Neil at Celtic, and of course he’s still coaching today. Martin was a very good man and a very good manager. So I’d probably say Martin’.

Describe to me what it felt like to represent your country at an international level.

‘Yea, it was probably the proudest day and one of the biggest achievements’.

This will be your first full season with Kerry, what would you like to being to the club?

‘We recruited well, we still look to bring in more players, but listen i just want to get us as far as we can and get higher up the table and improve on last year’.

What do you believe is Kerry’s strongest capability?

‘We’re still in pre-season so we got some good goals, there’s still some stuff we can improve on, but its still early doors for us. Obviously we got new players, and they need the type of time as the players that are here. So overall it was good to get into the next round (of the Munster Senior Cup), but as I say, we can always be better’.

Killarney is celebrating a major international achievement this week as local native Ruairí O’Flaherty secured top honours at the 68th Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles.

The senior mastering engineer, who works at the world-renowned Sterling Sound studio in the United States, was part of the technical team behind Kendrick Lamar and SZA’s “Luther,” which won the prestigious Record of the Year award on Sunday night.

Mayor of Killarney Councillor Martin Grady extended warm congratulations to O’Flaherty following the ceremony.

“There was tremendous Kerry pride at the Grammy Awards last night as we watched Ruairí O’Flaherty play a key role in winning the prestigious Record of the Year award,” Mayor Grady said. “This is an outstanding achievement and a testament to Ruairí’s exceptional talent, dedication, and hard work. He has made his family and his hometown extremely proud.”

The Mayor added that O’Flaherty’s success serves as an inspiration to young people in Killarney and Kerry, proving that local talent can reach the highest levels of the global music industry.

O’Flaherty’s work was credited across four nominations in several of the night’s most prominent categories.

In addition to the win for Record of the Year, he received credits for Album of the Year nominations for Kendrick Lamar’s GNX and Sabrina Carpenter’s Man’s Best Friend.

This year’s success follows previous Grammy recognition for O’Flaherty.

Last year, he was nominated for his work on a Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet and St. Vincent’s All Born Screaming.

Local Roots
Before his career took him to San Francisco and eventually to the top tier of the American recording industry, O’Flaherty was a well-known figure in the Killarney music scene.

He worked at Variety Sounds music shop on College Street and performed alongside his brothers in the popular local folk group Gliondar during the early 2000s.