‘I felt a huge honour’ — Bonner leaves Donegal role after five years in charge

OVER AND OUT: Fomer Donegal manager Declan Bonner. Photo: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile

Declan Bonner resigned from his position as Donegal manager tonight and admitted he had made his mind up in the wake of the Championship exit in June.

Bonner informed a county committee at the Donegal GAA Centre in Convoy of his intention, having been appointed for the second time in September 2017. Following a three plus one-year agreement that concluded last year, he opted to stay on for a two-year term in August of last season before making the decision to step aside.

Until last night, Bonner had not spoken publicly since before the All-Ireland SFC second round qualifier against Armagh, which Donegal lost 3-17 to 0-16 at St Tiernach’s Park on Clones on in June.

“I felt if I was asked the question that day …,” he said last night of the immediate aftermath of the 10-point defeat to Kieran McGeeney’s side. “I wanted to be fair to everyone - the chairman, county committee, the players - speak to everyone and do things right.” Inconsistencies in the latter stages of his five-year term will be a regret to Bonner, who won back-to-back Ulster SFC titles in the first two years of his return - in 2018 and 2019 - but failed to add silverware afterwards.

He said: “When we did perform, we performed as well as any team in the top tier. There were inconsistencies in our performances in recent years and that’s ultimately what cost us. We only really put good back-to-back performances this year against Armagh, when we played them in the Allianz League in Letterkenny and then in the first round in Ulster."

The 1992 All-Ireland winner initially managed Donegal for three seasons from August 1997 - taking over on his 32nd birthday - in his first year they came within a whisker of the 1998 Ulster SFC only to lose out to an injury time goal from Derry’s Joe Brolly in the final at Clones.

In his second spell with Donegal at various age brackets, Bonner has won 10 titles - the U-16 Buncrana Cup in 2012, the McGuigan Cup Ulster U-17 League a year later, Ulster Minor Leagues in 2014 and 2015, Ulster Minor Championship 2014 on their way to a first and only ever All-Ireland final appearance, the Ulster U-21 championship in 2017, and, on his return to the seniors, the Dr McKenna Cup of 2018, Allianz League Division 2 in 2019 and those successive Ulster SFC crowns in 2018 and 2019.

“I felt a huge honour to play for and manage Donegal at every level from under-16 to senior,” he added. “I am one of the lucky ones. The players who played under me were unbelievable. They are absolutely great individuals. They wore the Donegal crest with pride. I enjoyed every minute of it. I was 20 years flat to the mat from when I went in as a player in 1983 and it has been flat to the mat for the last 10 years.” In 2020, Donegal were beaten by Cavan in the provincial final before losing 0-23 to 1-14 to Tyrone in 2021 in the Ulster semi-final. This season, Donegal finished in fourth place behind Kerry, Mayo and Armagh in Division 1 of the All-County Football and lost out to Derry 1-16 to 1-14 after extra-time in the Ulster final in May.

He added: “Going back to the Ulster final, there was a lot of talk about the way the game was played. We had seen Derry beating both Tyrone and Monaghan very impressively and we got to a situation with 10 minutes to play where we were two points up and to concede two in a minute and lose in extra-time was a huge disappointment.

“Ulster titles aren’t easy won. We won back-to-back, only the second time in Donegal’s history, and we were very close to making history in winning a three-in-a-row. Those were big days and playing Division 1 football has been huge. We were competitive in Ulster for the five years and it’s a really difficult province to get out of. There are such fine margins in top-level sport.”