Former Armagh footballer Enda McNulty, pictured today for AIB ahead of GAA All-Ireland Senior Football Championship semi-final between Kerry and Armagh this Saturday, July 13th. AIB have also today announced the return of the Volunteer VIP competition which gives GAA volunteers the opportunity to win a money can’t buy behind the scenes tour of Croke Park, on the morning of the GAA All-Ireland Senior Football final as well as tickets to the match. Details on how to enter the Volunteer VIP competition will be announced on Monday, July 15th. For exclusive content and behind the scenes action from the GAA All-Ireland Senior Football Championships follow @AIB_GAA on X and Instagram and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/AIBGAA. Photo by Sam Barnes/Sportsfile
By Cian O’Connell
Saturday at Croke Park will be a particularly interesting occasion for the McNulty family.
Armagh to the core, the All-Ireland SFC Semi-Final with Kerry matters deeply, while Justin McNulty takes charge of Laois in the Tailteann Cup decider against Down.
Enda McNulty, an All-Ireland winner alongside Justin in 2002, is relishing the trip to GAA headquarters. “It is exciting, I'm excited for the Laois fans, players, and coaches,” he says.
“I think it is a pretty special weekend for everybody involved with all of the counties, whether it is the Tailteann Cup or the All-Ireland series, it is exciting.”
Gaelic Football peppers the conversations. “Of course, I talk to him regularly about it, he is very open, he is very hungry to learn, he certainly has a growth mindset,” McNulty says.
“So, I talk to him pretty regularly, absolutely. Every family occasion, my little son was christened at the weekend, so even at the christening there would have been conversations about Laois and Armagh. It is part of any GAA family.
“Certainly, in my family, from memory there was always Gaelic Football discussed at the kitchen table.
Enda and Justin McNulty in Ulster SFC action for Armagh in 1999. Photo by David Maher/Sportsfile
“I can't remember there ever being a Sunday dinner and Gaelic Games not being discussed. My sisters, Emer and Sarah, to be honest, they were disgusted by that for many years, and rightly so.”
McNulty was part of Joe Kernan’s successful crop in 2002, who continue to contribute handsomely across different sports in various roles.
Before the All-Ireland triumph, though, valuable lessons were learned. “I think we have been very lucky, it is all about nurture and nature,” McNulty says.
“The way we were brought up, our parents, coaches, and teachers, weekends like this you think about Brian McAlinden, a coach that forged a transformation in the Armagh culture before Joe Kernan came in. I think about people like that.
“So, I'm not going to talk about us, what we have achieved because I'd be more interested in what we achieve in the future than what we achieved in the past. We are certainly very thankful about those old architects, coaches, and teachers, they deserve the credit for anything we achieved.”
What is creating a really about? “What I mean by that is I joined the squad in '97, Kieran McGeeney I think joined the squad in '91, Armagh won the All-Ireland in 2002, so you don't need to be a mathematician to figure out, it took Armagh from '91 to '02 to create the cultural foundation stones to become the number one team in the country,” McNulty responds.
“If you look at the current teams trajectory, a lot of those players are involved for seven, eight, nine, 10 years. Soupy Campbell joined the squad when I was still playing with Armagh.
Enda McNulty pictured at the 2024 Ulster SFC Final when Armagh's 1999 provincial winning team were honoured. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile
“I'm talking about culture. We now work with global organisations in professional sport and global businesses. You think about culture as the foundation stones at the bottom of that pyramid of success.
“At the bottom of those foundation stones you have to have trust, work ethic, loyalty, friendship, you have to have incredibly strong esprit de corps as an example of the building blocks.
“Brian McAlinden and Brian Canavan, when we joined the squad, they worked relentlessly on those building blocks.”
Demanding runs in Barnetts Park were part of the process. McNulty vividly remembers McAlinden helping to increase Armagh’s resilience and grit. “That was done relentlessly, 97, 98, 99, 2000, 2001,” McNulty says.
“Joe came in for 2002, he clearly raised the bar in other aspects of professionalism. In terms of creating culture and character I couldn't overstate the importance of Brian McAlinden.”
The current Armagh team has embarked on a similar journey with McGeeney, and McNulty is hopeful about the present and future. “I think this is a group that has many more attributes that we didn't have,” he says.
“By the way, I hope they become a far better team than we ever were. We won one All-Ireland, I hope this team goes on to win a few All-Irelands.”
