McGonagle: Now is time to change

IRISH team manager Patsy McGonagle admits that Athletics Ireland chiefs “need to take a hard look at ourselves” after the national team’s disappointing performance at the European Indoor Championships in Paris.

McGonagle expressed dismay at the country’s poor showing in the French capital – where Derval O’Rourke was the only finalist – and has called for unequivocal backing for the new high performance director Kevin Ankrom. He warns that if the new man “isn’t supported sufficiently and sensibly and without any old silliness we are going to have negative conversations for time immemorial .”

McGonagle accepts that Ireland’s failure to garner a medal will attract criticism.