Person of the Year Award to be given to Tipperary senior hurling manager Liam Cahill

The President of the  Tipperary  Association Dublin, Tom Sherlock, has announced the Association’s Annual Awards for 2025.
The Tipperary Association Dublin is delighted to announce that the Association’s Person of the Year 2025 is Tipperary senior hurling manager, Ballingarry clubman, Liam Cahill and Alice Leahy has been chosen as the inductee in the Association’s Hall of Fame for 2025.

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Person of the Year
Liam Cahill took over the Tipperary team in 2022 at a time when they were playing second fiddle to Limerick, Cork and Clare in Munster.
He quickly set about putting a plan in place to bring Tipperary hurling back to the top, assembling a squad of players and a management team focussed on that objective.

Proving success doesn’t come overnight Tipperary had a few bumps on the road back. But Liam and his management team and the playing squad stuck to their task despite much criticism and disappointment especially in ‘24.
He introduced a number of young players to the squad and “blooded” them during the League and Championship run, merging them seamlessly into the squad that performed so valiantly in the final against the hottest of favourites, Cork.
He and his fellow management team ignored criticisms and made some hard decisions which ultimately led to a fantastic All-Ireland victory.

Cahill had shown his management expertise and the ability to work with players, the clubs and county board at underage level in previous years.

He was a winning manager at minor level in 2014 to 2016 winning the All-Ireland title at that grade in 2016. He managed Tipperary to the Under 21 All-Ireland title in 2018 and the Under 20 title in 2019. However, the senior success in the All-Ireland championship this year must stand as one of the greatest achievements in Tipperary hurling. Drawing with Limerick, winning in the cauldron of Ennis when the game seemed to be lost, victory over Waterford and despite a controversial loss to Cork we qualified for the All-Ireland series.

A semi-final victory over old rivals, Kilkenny, brought anticipation and excitement to new levels for Tipperary.
The second half performance in the final by the Tipp team was a masterpiece in turning adversity into advantage. The energy, skill and tactical nous displayed by the team in that second half, is the stuff of legends, all orchestrated magnificently by Liam Cahill and his team. While the players in the Tipp squad and the back-room team were astounding, for his ability to mesh the collective abilities in the way that he did, makes Liam Cahill a standout and deserving Person of the Year for 2025.

Hall Of Fame
Alice Leahy is the founder and CEO of the charitable organisation Trust, which provides care and support for people on the margins of society. Trust is a highly respected organisation and while it carries out its work in a low-profile way, Alice is frequently contacted by the media for comment on Social Justice issues.

A native of Fethard, Alice is a nurse by profession. Trust will celebrate the Golden Jubilee of it’s foundation this year and Alice has led the organisation throughout that period. On behalf of Trust, Alice has built up strong relationships with An Garda Siochána.

She is regularly invited to speak to trainee gardaí to give them an insight into what it is like to be homeless and disenfranchised. She has also lectured in hospitals and has published several books. She was chosen as the Association’s Person of the Year in 2003. For 50 years Alice has led from the front with action not words.

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She and Trust have kept a low profile and rely on personal and business donations to fund services. For her ceaseless efforts in caring for the marginalised and forgotten in our society for the past 50 years, the Association is proud to induct Alice Leahy into the Hall of Fame for 2025.

The awards will be presented at a function in the Louis Fitzgerald Hotel on Saturday, January 17, 2026.