Electro City, one of the leading electrical retailers in the south-east, and Kilkenny club Danesfort have both made huge inroads in recent years. Electro City proprietor Bill Hackett and fellow Danesfort clubman Martin Tynan spoke to Hogan Stand. 

For hurling supporters and sports historians alike, the first Sunday of September will be an occasion to savour. Kilkenny, the aristocrats, attempting to go where no hurler - indeed, no GAA side in the storied 125-year span of the association - has gone before by winning a fifth successive All-Ireland title. Lined up against them will be Tipperary, no less aristocratic in their proud heritage, who have recovered from the cold hard shock of a Munster mauling at the hands of Cork in May to reach a second successive final. Adding to the sense of history is the context: the game will take place 12 months almost to the day after the same titans jousted in one of the most memorable encounters of the modern era.

For all in the Danesfort club, no more and no less than all hurling people in a county which has produced a side proclaimed by even reticent observers as the best there has ever been, the occasion will be welcomed, the memories cherished. Those sentiments are intensified by the fact that two of Danesfort's own, brothers Paddy and Richie Hogan, will be on duty at Croke Park, part of a panel intent on making history.

Neither Hogan is likely to start against Tipp, although with injury concerns over the unrelated Brian (who has started at centre back in each of the Cats' championship games this summer but forced off through injury in the semi-final humiliation of Cork) and the peerless Tommy Walsh, Paddy could yet find himself in line for promotion to the first 15. If that happens, no-one in Danesfort will doubt his capacity to play his part, as Martin Tynan, a former chairman of the club and now involved with the Danesfort GAA Development Committee, explains: "If Brian Hogan doesn't make it, James Ryall looks to be the man in possession, but there's no doubt that Paddy would be a fine replacement. Richie probably gets more headlines but everyone in Danesfort knows all about Paddy's ability."

So how does it feel for two of Danesfort's own, which had been operating in the less hallowed grounds of junior hurling as recently as 2007, to be playing a part on the biggest stage of all on September 5th? "It's great for the club," says Martin. "Paddy and Richie are two exceptional hurlers, and they're great ambassadors for the club on and off the field."

Success for the Hogan brothers and their clubmates has not been restricted to the inter-county stage. Danesfort lifted the Kilkenny junior championship in 2007, and later went on to win Leinster and All-Ireland junior crowns. A year of consolidation in the intermediate grade followed before the club's first ever intermediate final came and went a year ago, when Castlecomer proved just too strong. With a conveyor belt of talent coming through - the fruits of the decision to initiate a juvenile section of the club for the first time in 1992, and subsequent years of hard work by many, many people - Martin expects the breakthrough to senior to come sooner rather than later.

Off the field, too, there has been progress. Plans are in place to continue the club's progress with expansion and development. "It's a very vibrant club in every respect," says Martin. "We have a fantastic young team who I expect to be playing senior hurling within the next couple of years, and the club itself is almost the social club of the area. We're only five miles outside the city but the Danesfort club is the meeting-point for an awful lot of people - we have 260 juvenile members alone, with teams from under-6 to under-18, boys and girls.

"As well as Paddy and Richie on the Kilkenny senior panel, Danesfort also has several other Kilkenny players, including Paul Murphy, who has been on the U21 team for the past three years, and camogie stars such Julianne Woodcock, Rachel Hogan, who's a sister of Richie and Paddy, Louise and Laura Dunne and Jennifer Cunningham."

Joining Martin Tynan on the Danesfort Development Committee is Bill Hackett, the man behind another major success story both inside and outside the county boundaries. Electro City, which was founded by Bill and his wife Lurline in 1993, employs 50 staff at its branches at Ormonde Retail Park in Kilkenny and Hanover Retail Park in Carlow, while the Hacketts also completed a takeover of established Waterford electrical outlet Kelly & Dollard in 2006.

Having started out in a 2,000 sq foot shop in Kilkenny city, Electro City's success meant a move to larger premises was required and in 2002 the company opened its purpose-built new superstore at the Ormonde Retail Park on the Dublin Road.

"We had way outgrown where we were so we had to make the move," says Bill. "We now have 10,000 sq foot of showroom space, which means we're able to offer and showcase a far better range. We also have 20,000 sq foot of warehouse storage under the same roof. Previously we had a couple of different warehouses but it was a bit disjointed, so all in all everything is much better now."

The decision to expand was taken before the country was gripped by recession, so how have things been going for Electro City in recent times? "Things are tough for every business but from what we've seen there is growth in the IT and home entertainment sectors. I'd compare the IT sector now to televisions in the past. Twenty years ago every house had a television and ten years ago every house had two televisions. Now every house has at least one computer or laptop, and a lot of people are purchasing a second computer, whether it's an easily portable netbook or a desktop computer for the children."

Home entertainment is another area which has been a solid performer for the Electro City group in recent years.

"From our experience, the recession is making people stay at home a bit more," says Bill. "Instead of going out to the cinema, for example, they may rent out a DVD or stream films directly from the internet, and people are investing in their home entertainment systems to that effect. 3D-TV is the latest development in televisions, which we have demonstrated in the stores and everyone agrees that it's a fantastic experience.

"Also, the latest range of Samsung televisions come enabled with the internet and Skype, so the television is becoming as much a source of connectivity as the computer. With a broadband internet connection on your TV, you can download film streams and watch them in your living-room. Skype is another big advantage - you can see and talk to your friends and relatives around the world through your internet- and Skype-enabled television from the comforts of their own sitting room."

As well as leading his own successful businesses in Kilkenny, Carlow and Waterford, Bill Hackett is the chairman of the Irish branch of Euronics, Europe's largest electronic buying group. Euronics represents 48 electrical retailers in Ireland, and Bill admits that coming under the umbrella of a major buying group has helped stores such as his own to survive and prosper. "Independent retailers were always able to compete with the big multiples on service," he says, "but they might not have been able to compete on price. That's changed. Independent retailers that are part of the Euronics buying group now effectively have 48 branches, which makes us one of the most powerful electrical retail groups in the country, offering fantastic value to our customers to add to the level of service they would always have expected."

When it comes to hurling, Bill is as committed a follower of the Cats as the next man. "If you're a Kilkenny man and you've no interest in hurling, there's something wrong," he laughs. A member of the John Lockes club in Callan in his youth - "I was never blessed with the gift," he jokes - he decamped to Danesfort in the 1990s after a stint in Dublin and has become involved with his local club ever since.

Sons Conor, Darragh and Ronan (aged 12, nine and five respectively) are involved at various grades with the Danesfort juveniles, while Bill himself is the secretary of the development committee charged with maintaining the club's progress off the field of play.

Looking forward to the meeting with Tipperary at Croke Park, he's keeping his fingers crossed that Brian Cody's men can make All-Ireland history. "It's just a fantastic time to be alive and a Kilkenny man following this team. We're getting three or four trips to Croke Park every year at the moment and nobody should take things for granted. The team has been building for the last ten years or so, and everyone is looking forward to the All-Ireland final now. Hopefully they can write a new chapter in the history books."

For more on the products and services offered by Electro City, give them a call on 056 7751717 (Kilkenny), 059 9164515 (Carlow) or 051 870077 (Kelly & Dollard, Waterford) or visit www.electrocity.ie. Tweet

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