John Fogarty: No good way of saying goodbye for GAA stars

WALKING AWAY: Keith Higgins announced his retirement with an 18-word tweet on Saturday, becoming the latest in a long line of Mayo greats to exit the inter-county stage in recent weeks. Higgins will now likely return to his hurling, his first love. Picture: David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile

In the absence of action, inter-county retirement notices are the subject of critique right now. Too long for some, too sweet for others, people have all of a sudden become offended Leonard Cohens and declared that’s no way to say goodbye.

Forget that more often than not these statements have been written with a heavy heart, or worse still, not at will.