By Cian O'Connell

Hurling will always matter to Young Irelands in Gowran so Charlie Carter talks about the pride that exists now that DJ Carey takes charge of the Kilkenny Under 21 team.

There is never any shortage of respect and admiration for the striped jersey so Carter is delighted his former colleague is stepping into the inter-county managerial arena.

"No surprise, I knew it was coming down the line, I suppose it had been touted for the last few weeks that he might be in line for him," Carter says. 

"Look, it’s a good fit for him I think after doing his bit with Carlow IT. No better high profile man in Kilkenny to take on a job. 

"I suppose in Kilkenny we are probably in a stage of rebuilding down there, so look it’s good that he’s part of it, kicking it off again.

"It’s a great honour both for DJ and for the club, Young Irelands. It is brilliant for the club to have DJ managing the Kilkenny Under-21s and there is a lot of pride in that."

Carter acknowledges that Kilkenny face serious challenges in the game now. "There are always good hurlers in Kilkenny, it’s about nurturing them and bringing them to the next level," Carter states.

"We are after having a glorious 20 years in Kilkenny. I don’t see us falling off altogether, okay we mightn’t have the highs we have had for the last 20 years, but I can tell you all we are still hurling in Kilkenny and the show goes on. "There is a great pride in bringing young lads through again and getting back there."

Carter also wants Kilkenny to be perched on the summit of the hurling world again soon. "I’ll be honest, while it was great and all in the last 20 years, maybe in the last four or five years it was becoming a little bit draining in some ways, that we weren’t getting the satisfaction that we should have been getting.

"I felt personally the 2015 All-Ireland against Galway, I think winning an All-Ireland should be a euphoric occasion, and it wasn’t as euphoric as it should be.

"So if we go back again and bring back another team through we’ll get that euphoric occasion again, and it will happen I’ve no doubt, it just might take a couple of years to get going again."