O'Grady paves the way for return of Limerick duo

Limerick hurling manager Donal O'Grady has confirmed that he has left the door open for veteran duo Mark Foley and Ollie Moran to return to his squad in April.

Foley and Moran, both 35, retired from inter-county hurling at the end of 2009 and were not involved in last year's ill-fated campaign.

O'Grady, however, is hopeful that the pair can be coaxed out of retirement and has offered them the option of joining up with the squad in April.

Cork man O'Grady contacted the pair after he was appointed as Justin McCarthy's successor and they are currently working on individual training programmes before deciding on whether or not to resume inter-county hurling April.

"The situation is that I rang Mark Foley and I rang Ollie Moran because they are the only two players who had retired," said O'Grady, who was speaking at the official launch of the 2011 Allianz Hurling Leagues in Croke Park.

"I just wanted to clarify the situation because they missed last year. I felt that they retired just because of that. Mark said to me that he hadn't made any hard and fast decision.

"I said: 'Look, if you want to you can come in and train with us or you can join for us to improve on your fitness levels.

"What we deiced to do was to train away themselves and then we will have a look at things again in April."

"It's the same with Ollie Moran as well. Whether they come back or not, I am not quite sure."

Niether player has featured for Limerick since the All-Ireland semi-final defeat to Tipperary in 2009, but O'Grady's appointment as manager has opened up the possibility of a dramatic return to inter-county hurling.