The phone line to his office in Nenagh created a cacophonous chorus yesterday. "Am I mad or not?" wondered Eamonn Cregan, less than 24 hours returned to the hot-seat as Limerick hurling manager, before answering his own question. "Madness does help," he continued.

No other job could have tempted Cregan back into management quite so soon, however. But the desire to see Limerick at the top, as All-Ireland champions again, proved a powerful pull. Cregan failed in that particular objective in his first stint as Limerick manager a decade ago. Ironically, the man who as a player inspired Limerick to their last Liam McCarthy Cup in 1973, masterminded Offaly's win over his native county in 1994.

On Tuesday night Cregan emerged from his self-imposed, one-year managerial exile, thus completing the cyclical route back to the Limerick managerial position. "I had always envisaged returning at some stage as Limerick manager," he explained. "So, when the situation became available I just went for it."

Cregan knows what he is letting himself in for. This year, without the noose of managing a team, he finally got around to bringing his family on holiday to France - "A holiday I'd promised since 1986," he said - and, also, in recent months he has been able to go up to the driving range at Limerick County with his son Brian, who will be nine in December, to hit golf balls. Now that he is back in management, such family affairs will again be curtailed.

"I know it is going to be tough, but my one and only aim is to see Limerick win the All-Ireland," said Cregan.

He is due to meet with county board officials tonight, the first step in deciding who his two fellow-selectors will be for the two-year term. And the initial meeting with the team will take place "some time next week, although it will be more a get-together and perhaps a small puck-about rather than an actual training session."

Cregan was awarded the position as manager at a county board meeting on Tuesday night. Tom Ryan, who led Limerick to the National Hurling League title last Sunday week, was the only other candidate in the frame. The two men were interviewed by officials last Monday and, according to Limerick county chairman Brendan Danaher, "after careful and fair scrutiny", the name of Cregan was put forward.

"Tom was at the helm for four years and had done well with the team," commented Cregan, a reference to the two Munster championship wins and National League success. "At least Limerick won the League and played really good hurling in the semi-final win over Kilkenny, so they had a national title to show for their four years."

"We felt above in Offaly that, going into the third year, players had been listening to you for two years and had won an All-Ireland. Going into a fourth year, you're saying the same thing and it's hard to keep players motivated. I'd say one year to a maximum of three years is enough, unless you've won All-Irelands. Obviously, Ger Loughnane, who has won two All-Irelands in three years with Clare, will go on."

In his first spell in charge of Limerick, Cregan was responsible for introducing players like Mike Houlihan to the team. Now, he's back in charge of some familiar faces, and some newer ones. But he doesn't envisage any antagonism from the players in getting the job ahead of Ryan. "I know them, and I don't see any problem between us," he remarked.

Cregan's return to the manager's hot-seat will come in their Oireachtas Cup match against Cork on Sunday week - a foretaste of next year's Munster championship quarter-final.

"It's going to be tough, and an interesting year. We're going to have to work at it, and work at it, very hard," he said. "But I'm not going to make them sick or anything like that leaving the training ground. I want to try to diversify the game a bit, get them to play the type of game I want them to play."