Dublin great slams Dublin GAA county board after Dessie Farrell's departure

Irish Daily Mirror

15 hours ago

Paul Flynn was critical of the Dublin county board after the depatrure of Dessie Farrell from the Dublin footballers, criticising the lack of a succession plan for the role.
Farrell announced that he was leaving the setup after claiming two All-Ireland titles with the Dubs, with his last match in charge coming in Croke Park with a All-Ireland quarter-final loss to Tyrone.
Flynn, speaking on the Second Captains podcast, said: "Dessie's been great. Anyone who knows him knows how honourable a man he is. His commitment to Dublin has been second to none, really…he really has a fantastic legacy.
"I feel like the county board have been asleep at the wheel a little bit, to be honest with you. It's not to be looking at other counties going, 'Well, why can't we do that?'
"Dublin should be competing underage in competitions and we're not.
"When Jim Gavin stepped away six years ago, Dessie was there as a ready-made solution, and now we don't have a ready-made solution in place. There's no one even of my generation of players who have been brought in to coach with minors or U21s. Maybe they've been asked, I don't know. It just feels like we're losing that tacit knowledge if we don't do that."
The departure of Ger Brennan from the Louth managerial post has come at an extremely opportune time for Dublin GAA, as they may look to appoint the former Dublin star after his two seasons with the Wee County, where they claimed the Leinster Championship and retained their Division Two status.
Speaking before the announcement of Brennan's departure, Flynn said: "Look, Ger Brennan is there with Louth, he's in a current job, so he's currently an option. But he's also by default, he wasn't developed by the county board and is now ready-made."
It looks set to be a season of rebuilding for Dublin in 2026, as the futures of the old guard in the team is still unknown.