Donoghue departure leaves a major hole to be filled

THE straws in the wind around Croke Park last Sunday indicated that something potentially big was afoot in Galway hurling.

Speculation about Micheál Donoghue’s future as senior team manager was rife in the countdown to the sport’s biggest day of the year.

And the bush telegraph was proved accurate on Tuesday night when Donoghue handed in his notice to County Board officials in the Lough Rea Hotel.

It was an eleventh-hour summit. Around the table was the local GAA hierarchy comprised of Pat Kearney (Chairman), Seamus O’Grady (Secretary), Mike Burke (Treasurer) and Michael Larkin (Hurling Chairman) . . . with Donoghue joined by coach/selector Francis Forde and former player Cyril Donnellan, who is a member of the Galway backroom team.

The atmosphere was described as ‘tense’ and after Donoghue revealed that he was standing down for family reasons above all else, he challenged the Board about the extent of its financial backing of the senior squad.

The officials present disputed the charge amid attempts to coax Donoghue into having a change of heart about exiting the top sideline position in Galway hurling.

Later that night, Donohue met with the players – also at short notice – to confirm his decision. There was a good turnout from the squad in the circumstances and the majority of them were stunned by this bombshell.

Donoghue, it is understood, itemised a couple of difficulties he had with the board’s resourcing of the panel, possibly setting the players on a collision course with Galway GAA officials.

For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.

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