McCarthy 'allowed his heart to rule his head'

SEAMUS McCARTHY has allowed his heart rule his head by agreeing to take over as manager of the Tipperary football team - nine years after giving up the position.

At a meeting of Tipperary County Board in Thurles on Tuesday, a management team of McCarthy, Colm O'Flaherty, Jim Healy and John Owens was ratified without objection for a two-year term with a review after one year.

The same management team will also take charge of the U21 Footballers.

McCarthy admitted yesterday that he had always envisaged getting involved again, but could not have anticipated it would happen so quickly - or against the background of the recent unrest in the county.

He agrees that he and fellow selectors Colm O'Flaherty and John Owens face a demanding challenge after the fall-out following the controversial resignation of former manager Andy Shorthall.

"It has been a very difficult four or five months. The fall-out was considerable,'' he said.

"The way I feel is that we have a two-fold purpose. One is to get the footballers back playing and the second one is to bring some unity and harmony back to the county. I'd say we'll have a big role to play in that.'' McCarthy has been one of the best-known - and respected - personalities involved in Tipperary football over the past three decades.

He was a minor in 1972, a senior two years later and he managed the county in all grades. In 1984, under his direction, Tipperary made a major breakthrough by winning the Munster MFC title, before narrowly failing in the All-Ireland final to a Dublin team which included Niall Quinn.

A manager with Bank of Ireland, McCarthy was involved at senior level for a few years up to 1996, when he opted out after being transferred to Kinsale. His decision to take on his current role was facilitated by his return to work in Clonmel.

"I took on the team because I felt the workload wasn't as much and because I wanted to stay involved,'' he added. "Winning the All-Ireland was an important step for us at that particular time.''

He is philosophical about the task confronting the management, bearing in mind the fall-outs affect.

"We're in it for better or worse. We'll see how we can do,'' he commented.