Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Mac back in harness for Declan
DONEGAL boss Declan Bonner has received a timely boost with reports that Odhran Macniallais is to rejoin the county panel.
Macniallais, who has had a stop-start inter-county career since making his Championship debut in 2014, last played for the county in 2018 but is now back on board, according to Highland Radio Sport.
A winner of Ulster titles in 2014 and ‘18, Macniallais operates largely at midfield or wing-forward and remains one of the standout players on the club scene in Donegal. He would be a significant addition to Bonner’s squad as they look to push on having fallen just short of the All-ireland semi-final stage in each of the last three seasons.
The Gaoth Dobhair clubman’s first involvement with the county senior panel was in the early stages of Jim Mcguinness’s reign but it wasn’t until Mcguinness’s
last season in 2014 that he became established, as Donegal reached a second All-ireland final in three seasons only to lose to Kerry.
However, Macniallais has struggled to find the appetite to play inter-county football at times. He sat out the 2017 season before Bonner coaxed him back the following year.
He didn’t play for the county in 2019 though, with the death of a clubmate in a car accident at the start of the year influencing his decision. It came in the midst of Gaoth Dobhair storming to county and provincial titles before they lost to eventual All-ireland club champions Corofin at the semi-final stage.
“I just have no real interest in football at the minute,” said Macniallais at the time.