Mannion exit is another bolt from the blue
DUBLIN manager Dessie Farrell lost 14 All-Ireland medals worth of talent and experience from his dressing room in the space of a single day – as Paul Mannion’s shock decision to opt out followed on from the retirement yesterday of Michael Darragh Macauley. Mannion’s news represented a bolt from the blue – given that the Kilmacud Crokes attacker is still only 27 and his talent is of such blue-chip quality that he was an AllStar three years running, in 2017, 2018 and 2019. During the winter All-Ireland championship, Farrell put a fresh stamp on things from the Jim Gavin era with Paddy Small getting the nod ahead of Mannion (right). The latter, a six-time AllIreland winner, has now decided to follow the lead of Jack McCaffrey and take some time out of the game while still in his prime.
IN December, Michael Darragh Macauley picked up a notable medal — no, not the one you think. This one came weeks before the Dublin footballer was part of the match-day squad that made history by winning a record sixth All-Ireland senior title in a row.
This one was awarded for his humanitarian work with Concern Worldwide, the Ballyboden St Enda’s player one of 32 people from all over the country honoured for their outstanding volunteering efforts.
And work like that saw him appear as a guest on The Late Late Show and Concern chief executive Dominic MacSorley led the tributes at the time.
‘As we face into a winter like no other, I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Michael Darragh Macauley for his outstanding commitment to Concern. People know Michael as a remarkable footballer, but he is also a committed humanitarian,’ MacSorley said.
‘He has creatively and compassionately used his profile to help Concern raise awareness of our work — whether it’s through conversations with children in Iraq forced to flee their home in Syria because of relentless warfare, or in the schools of Nairobi, Kenya where he channelled messages from his own pupils at Scoil Maelruain Junior in Tallaght.’
The football was just one aspect to a charismatic, multifaceted personality.
The 34-year-old used his Twitter account yesterday morning to confirm his Dublin retirement, writing ‘Sin é uaimse. Míle buíochas ó chroí.’
A free spirit. On the field and off. A natural storyteller whose 1,000-watt energy could light up a room. A charismatic, engaging character who threw himself into other passion projects beyond Dublin football such as his work with the North East Inner City.
Even the photograph he used to go with his two-line farewell, written as Gaeilge, was in distinctive black and white hue and featured the player with his back to camera, his face hidden.
By close of business yesterday, he had become the third Dublin player who will be missing from Dessie Farrell’s squad in 2021, Paul Mannion opting out at just 27 after Paddy Andrews’ decision last week to announce his retirement.
Mannion joins Jack McCaffrey in deciding to focus on other things in his life when he is in the prime of an already decorated career.
Dublin supporters will be hoping that a player with such a cultured left boot will be back some time in the future.
Macauley bows out as a proud member of Gaelic football’s most exclusive club: the men with eight All-Ireland medals.
In that respect, he is up there with some of the game’s greats, though his decision to call it quits will have no doubt been informed by his total lack of game-time this Championship.
And yet he came at his career a different way.
‘The last decade wouldn’t have happened for me if I didn’t have a basketball in my hand as a kid,’ he admitted in one interview.
Parachuted into the Dublin starting team by Pat Gilroy after the shock of the five-goal Meath defeat in the 2010 Leinster semi-final, he was an all-action, unscripted-type player who is forever remembered by supporters for his fingertip touch to set in motion Kevin McManamon’s match-defining goal in the 2013 semi-final against Kerry, the year he won Footballer of the Year.
Until this year, only five Kerry players from the Golden Years crew that spanned 1975-86 enjoyed the privilege of having won eight All-Irelands. By the end of this unique winter All-Ireland final, another seven Dublin players were added to the list, led by Stephen Cluxton. The Dublin dressing room though will have a very different feel to it when the new season eventually restarts with the National League, which will now likely be in March.
“He is a free spirit on the field and off”