Time for ‘new voice’ as Mickey Ned exits top Limerick job

MICKEY Ned O’Sullivan last night insisted that he had no regrets as he brought the curtain down on his five-year tenure as Limerick senior football boss and believed the time was right for ‘a new voice’ to come in at the helm of the county.

O’Sullivan informed Limerick county board officials yesterday evening that he and his coaching sidekick Donie Buckley were set to end their spell in charge, and then contacted Limerick players individually by phone to inform them of his decision. Limerick failed to land a coveted Munster senior football crown during O’Sullivan’s spell in charge, being defeated in the last two deciders by Cork and Kerry, but O’Sullivan still described working with the current Limerick squad, ‘as the most positive experience’ he has had in Gaelic football.

“After five years the time is right for a new voice. Myself and the management have been considering this for the past few weeks. I was on holidays and we met yesterday after I came back, before informing the county board. I then spoke to the players individually on the phone, and the few that I didn’t get through to, I will be talking to them today. They were disappointed to hear that we were moving on, as were the board officials.

“It was a joint decision made by myself and the rest of the management team. It was with great reluctance that we made the decision, as there was massive pressure from the board and players wanting us to stay on. But you can overstay your welcome and we felt we had reached the natural end. We’ve done everything we could to help Limerick football and we feel there’s a new voice needed now.

“The players were like family really and I will miss greatly working with them. They were the finest characters I have come across and working with them is the most positive experience I have had in Gaelic football.

“We had no conflict during our time in charge and got great support from the board and the players throughout that time. When you have all that, it is very difficult to move away from it. There is no point in having any regrets when you leave.

“We did everything we could and tried everything we could to win a Munster title, but it just wasn’t to be. That’s life. To me, it’s more about the journey than the destination.”

O’Sullivan took over from Liam Kearns as Limerick boss in October 2005 with his final game in charge seeing Limerick suffer another heartbreaking defeat in round 4 of the All-Ireland qualifiers after extra-time against Cork in the Gaelic Grounds last month. O’Sullivan did deliver silverware in the form of a NFL Division 4 title last April. The announcement will further fuel speculation that Buckley is set to replace Eamon Fitzmaurice as a selector with his native Kerry, after Fitzmaurice called time on his involvement with the Kingdom this week.

Limerick secretary Mike O’Riordan last night thanked the Kerry native and outlined the procedures to appoint his replacement.

“The process now is that a football sub committee will meet to discuss the matter and the likely scenario is that they will propose a candidate to become the new Limerick football manager. That appointment would then have to be ratified by our executive and then a full meeting of the Limerick county board.”