Rory Gallagher says that the ‘time was right’ for him to end a seven-year association with Donegal GAA yesterday evening.
Gallagher resigned as the Donegal senior football team manager, communicating his decision to his players via their WhatsApp group and also informing the Donegal County Chairman, Sean Dunnion, who subsequently relayed the news to delegates at a meeting of the county committee in Ballybofey.
Picture caption: Rory Gallagher with selectors Brendan Kilcoyne and Maxi Curran. Picture by Evan Logan
After heavy defeats to Tyrone and Galway this summer, Gallagher has decided not to continue the job of rebuilding Donegal.
“It’s been a long year,” Gallagher told Hugh Cahill on the Game On show on RTE 2FM tonight.
“During the course of the season I was thinking things over. I felt it was best for myself at this period.
“I feel it is right for me. I had to do what I felt was right for myself.
“Ultimately it is a very personal thing. I’m very single minded and I make up my mind on things very quickly.
“It’s not something you take lightly. It’s been a huge part of my life for seven years now.”
Gallagher was assistant manager to Jim McGuinness in 2011, 2012 and 2013, when Donegal won the All-Ireland and two Ulster titles.
After an acrimonious split, Gallagher wasn’t involved with the seniors in 2014, when Donegal returned to the All-Ireland final, but that year the Fermanagh native was involved with the county’s under-21s, aiding Maxi Curran.
A large swathe of Donegal’s experienced campaigns stepped off the stage during Gallagher’s three years and the job of piecing together a new army was perhaps bigger than he’d anticipated.
Gallagher said: “We were well beaten by Tyrone and Galway. There is an enormous workload in front of Donegal in the next number of years. it is a new team and I expect a couple of more players to go now.
“We were well aware of where we were at. In 2012, we had a team at their absolute peak. In the last number of years we have lost a huge amount. We have a number of others who are past their peak. We had a very young squad.”