‘Unrelenting’ very much encapsulates Eanna Martin’s passion for all things Wexford GAA, and the New Ross-man is primed to translate his commitment on the pitch towards helping the County Board maximise its income opportunities off it.

“It is a great honour,” he registers after becoming the Model County GAA’s first-ever Commercial Manager earlier this week.

Eanna has been a Wexford hurler since his underage days, minding the goal for the minors for two straight campaigns and then the under-21s for three more summers, before emerging into the senior fold in 2007. He made his competitive debut in February 2008 away to Antrim in the league and recently chalked-up his 53rd appearance on March 11th last away to Kilkenny.

He lined-out in six of Wexford’s 15 competitive games last year, as Davy Fitzgerald whipped up a storm on Slaneyside when consolidating promotion in the league by derailing Kilkenny en route to both the Division 1 league semi-finals and a first Leinster championship final since 2008.

This year they have backed-up a shoot-out win over Kilkenny in January’s Walsh Cup final (Wexford’s first outright win in that competition since 2002) by confounding the experts in not alone avoiding relegation in the league but also dethroning the reigning champions Galway in the quarter-final on Saturday last to set up a sixth showdown with Kilkenny within the space of 15 months – and Wexford have won three of those derbies.

Revolution

The Davy ‘Fitz’ revolution in these parts brought an instant spike in interest, with attendances at Walsh Cup games mushrooming from the usual hundreds to an average 3,000 per game, while crowd figures at Wexford’s top-flight league games have been hovering around the 8,000 mark this season, and Sunday’s Kilkenny duel is expected to attract over 10,000 to Eanna’s new place of work – Innovate Wexford Park.

While Wexford GAA has always been a strong brand, the considerably improved fortunes of the hurlers certainly generates even more fertile territory for businesses to become part of the overall team by injecting vital investment into helping develop the green-shoots at underage into strong components of inter-county sides going forward.

“This is a different side of it now,” Eanna says regarding his new professional task with the county having donned the Wexford colours for the best part of 20 years at this stage.

“I will be doing what I think is best for Wexford as Commercial Manager, and it is an honour that I am able to try to bring Wexford forward from a commercial point-of-view.

“It is plain to see that the interest levels in Wexford GAA are at a real high at the moment.”

Indeed, having served as a Medical Representative and Assistant Marketing Manager with Irish pharmaceutical company Phoenix Labs in the Munster region and Dublin, he notes: “Wexford GAA is very recognised as a brand around Ireland, and there is always a good feeling towards Wexford from other counties.

“When I was in Cork and Munster, and in Dublin too, I would have noticed that there was always great interest in Wexford and a romance towards the purple-and-gold and the whole 1996 thing and really everything that goes with Wexford,” adds 31-year-old.

“In Wexford itself, in the last year-and-a-half to two years, interest levels have grown. You could see that with the crowd at the Leinster final last year, and even with the scramble for tickets for the semi-final against Kilkenny, while the crowds at Walsh Cup games have been massive too. And it has been the same with the league games.

“But interest levels are high because things are going well on the field. The fans and the public appreciate the effort which is going in and the progress which is being made, which is great.

“2014,” Eanna adds, in regards to Wexford dethroning the then-defending All-Ireland champions Clare before going on to also beat Waterford in championship, “were the first signs we saw of what was coming, when we had a good year and the fans got behind us.

“It kicked on again in 2016 when beating Cork (Wexford’s first championship win over the Rebels since 1956) and going to play Waterford. Then when Davy came in, it went to another level again.

“There is great opportunity there and interest, which is brilliant from a players’ point-of-view, but also from a County Board and commercial perspective,” Eanna is happy to record as he zones in on his new professional objective.

And, crucially, he has a strong understanding of commercial matters arising from his successful studies in University College Cork and his good work with Phoenix Labs, whose sponsorship of the Meath hurlers through their ‘Uniflu’ product offered Eanna an insight to sports sponsorship.

“I got a little taste of the sponsorship side of things and what companies want from County Boards and vice versa, and how things operate that way,” he explains.

“On top of that, I just have a love of all things GAA and Wexford, so I would always have my ear close to the ground on that side of things.

“Hopefully it will be a good fit and I can make the most of it to bring Wexford to the next level commercially.

“There are a lot of plans and structures in place regarding coaching and performance in clubs and schools with the new Games Development Officers in the county, and funding is needed in order to be successful with those goals.

“So we need to get money in, and that’s my aim.”

Kilkenny

Obviously he is also eager to aid the progress of the Wexford hurlers, and with Kilkenny firmly back in Wexford’s sight-line this week, it creates another particularly interesting time in the life of Eanna Martin when noting that this beloved Geraldine O’Hanrahans’ New Ross native is now in his second year with Kilkenny side Carrickshock.

That transfer came about as Eanna is now living in Hugginstown since his marriage in December 2016 to Jackie Power, whose sister Mairead was a Camogie All-Star with Kilkenny in 2013, and they are first-cousins of no less than recent Kilkenny All-Ireland winners Richie jnr., and John Power.

With Wexford scalping Kilkenny in both league and championship last year together with this year’s Walsh Cup final, Eanna has felt a keen interest among his new Carrickshock friends as regards matters Wexford, and especially matters Davy Fitzgerald.

“There is always great interest in Davy and what Davy is doing, how training is going no matter where you are because he just brings that intrigue to it,” Eanna reasons.

“That interest was especially there going in to play Kilkenny twice last year.

“But there was a definite appreciation in Kilkenny too that we are making progress.

“Still though,” he highlights, “they are Kilkenny people and they want to see Kilkenny winning the same as we want to see Wexford winning.

“They have a little bit of interest in us alright, but they are more interested in Brian Cody and how things are going up in their end of the world rather than what’s happening down here.”

Eanna has keenly observed how Kilkenny’s stock has risen sizably in the league since a difficult start to the campaign with back-to-back defeats to Cork and Clare had some labelling them as relegation candidates. However, the black-and-amber responded with a chain of victories over Waterford, Tipperary and Wexford to make the knockout stages, where they proved their mettle away to Offaly in the recent quarter-final.

Eanna is intent upon helping Wexford to drive forward on Sunday, just as he relishes the challenge of also making Wexford GAA a market leader commercially.