Management are 'trying to get culture and identity back into Kildare' says Mark Dempsey

He could be described as the most laid back player on the Kildare squad, but there are few others who would run him close for that title, however whenever or wherever you meet him there is one thing that always stands out ... and that is his smile, an ever-present smile.

Mark Dempsey, UL, Moorefield and Kildare defender.
Dempsey first played inter-county football in 2017; then took a few seasons away, initially travelling and then studying to be become a medical doctor (now in his final year), returned to the fold in 2025 under manager Brian Flanagan.

It was back in 2017 when Moorefield defeated St Loman's in the Leinster Senior Club Football decider in as dramatic a game as you could hope to get, the Newbridge boys winning 1-14 to 2-10 and when Mark Dempsey must have felt life could not get any better he was then invited to join the Kildare senior squad by manager Cian O'Neill.

Before the 2025 league commenced the Newbridge man picked up a dreaded hamstring injury, and that along with a hip issue, curtailed his action on the field before finally getting himself fully bit and began his quest for a place on the starting squad.

With promotion achieved it was on to the Leinster Championship and Mark, like most other Kildare players, felt Kildare left a Leinster final place, at least, behind them following that defeat to Offaly and “when you see what Louth achieved in the Leinster final, you can only believe, yes, it was a title that probably slipped away from us but we eventually got over that.”
There was definitely a bit of hurt, says Mark, when we met Offaly for the third time this season. “We felt we didn't do ourselves justice in those two games, especially the Leinster one, but with that bit of hurt and knowing past mistakes would have to be eliminated if we were to progress, it all helped on the day.”

The student doctor said that going into the Fermanagh game “the first thing was to forget about their (Kildare's) earlier twelve point win over them in the opening game of the league, they (Fermanagh) were poor in that game but we knew they had improved as the league went on and while we knew they would be tough opponents, neverthe-
less we were confident going into that game.”

The former UL captain, said it was never the team's intention to go out against Fermanagh with the intention of retaining possession at the expense of attacking.

“No that was never our intention but conditions were very tough but as the game went on, instead of rushing things, we tried to control the play a bit better and I think we that well in the end.”

Admitting that they needed something to “drive us on and we got that when Mackie (Brian McLoughlin) came on, he is a player never afraid to take on a shot and he was brilliant when he came and fair play to him for having the confidence the go for it.”
Like most players, Mark Dempsey is happy with the new rules format and while admitting they (new rules) are weighted in favour of attackers, nevertheless “it is nice to have those one-on-one battles, overall I believe they have been for the game as a whole.”

The new management set-up are very organised admits the Moorefield man, “they have great passion and trying to get culture and identity back into Kildare, tap into that a bit more than has been previously.”

Looking forward to the Tailteann Cup final Mark says he is looking forward to the next couple of weeks, “hopefully we have learned from the Fermanagh game, we have an injury-free squad (apart from the long term injuries) for that game, and we proved good enough on the day.”

Let's hope Mark will have something extra special to smile about come Saturday afternoon.

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