Whelan confirms retirement decision

The rumour mill went into overdrive after last month's horror show against Kerry, but Dublin midfielder Ciaran Whelan has finally confirmed that he is retiring from inter-county football.

In an interview published in today's Evening Herald, he said: "Deep down in my own mind, I knew this would be the last year.

"I discussed it with the family at home and the way the year turned out, playing a limited amount of time and given the amount of commitment and effort that goes into it. It's really a time factor."

Whelan has been on bench duty for most of the season, with Dublin manager Pat Gilroy selecting Ross McConnell and Darren Magee as his first choice midfield pairing for the Championship.

The Raheny clubman came into the Dublin senior set-up as an athletic teenager, just a year after what remains the Metropolitans' most recent All-Ireland SFC success.

He made his debut against Meath in the 1996 Leinster final and played for the capital side for 14 seasons, winning six Leinster titles and two All-Star awards.

He was also a winner with the Leinster Interprovincial and Ireland International Rules sides.

He captained Dublin in 2003 and 2004 during Tommy Lyons' reign, but admits that now, at the age of 33, his body 'isn't recovering as quick as I'd like.'

"Every year the commitments are getting bigger. I reached the stage in my own head where I was quite clear that it was time to move on," Whelan explained.

"But I've enjoyed every minute of it. For 14 years it's been a childhood dream come true. I wouldn't change any bit of it."

Although he started six National League games, 2009 was largely a frustrating season for him.

Limited to a cameo role off the bench during the Championship, he featured as a substitute in the clashes with Meath, Westmeath, Kildare and Kerry - scoring a single point.

"I was clear in my own mind that this year was my last year and I kind of made up my mind that I was giving it one last go under the new management," he said.

"Even if I had played more, I just know from the training this year that I found it very, very tough."

He met with members of the Dublin management team to state his intentions to hang up his boots, with his last hopes of an All-Ireland SFC winner's medal smashed by Kerry's 1-24 to 1-7 quarter-final hammering of the Dubs.

Whelan, though, insists that there is 'definitely a way back for this Dublin team' from that nightmare outing at Croke Park.

As Gilroy looks to mount a challenge again for Sam Maguire next year, the man known to most Dublin fans as 'Whelo' will continue to play club football for Raheny 'for at least another season'.

He is expected to line out in Thursday's Dublin Senior Football Championship encounter between Raheny and Lucan Sarsfields.