'No bust-up, just two different ways of operating': Cork boss Ben O'Connor on departure of new coach

Cork hurling manager on why he took the gig, tough early decisions and looking ahead to 2026

READY: Cork manager Ben O'Connor: 'The bug was after landing and I was mad for road." Pic: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile

NEW Cork hurling manager Ben O'Connor says there was 'no bust-up' with new coach Niall O'Halloran before the latter's early departure from the role - simply two different ways of operating.

In an interview with The Echo on Saturday, the straight-talking Newtownshandrum man said: 'There were no issues between us but it was [a case of] what was the point prolonging it when it wasn’t going to work long-term?"

O'Connor explained this was a straight-up case of two coaches with different philosophies coming to a mutual realisation before it was too late and ultimately counter-productive.

“I was after looking at Niall’s CV and, obviously, it was a very good CV, I got Niall involved and I was delighted he came on board – and it just didn’t work out. Two different ways of operating," O'Connor told The Echo

“I said to Niall one day, ‘We’re not going to work together,’ and he said, ‘Probably not.’ He said, ‘You won’t be happy and I won’t be happy and that isn’t right.’ 

“We parted there, he wished us the best of luck. That’s the way it finished, everything was amicable. There were stories going around that this happened and that happened – we had an honest conversation and we agreed that it was probably the right thing for the two of us to split.”

The new Cork boss admitted: “Did I ever think I’d be involved with Cork? Probably not. It never entered my head until Jimmy Barry got on to me one day, saying, ‘Would you ever think of getting involved with the under-age? I think you should have a shot at the 20s.’ 

“I put my name forward for that and got it and I suppose it all kicked off from there. The bug was after landing and I was mad for road.” 

He said: “When it became clear that Pat (Ryan) wasn't going forward, it was very simple - ‘You’re being offered this now – if you don’t take it, you might never again get a chance, so it's either take it now or forget about it,’ that's the way it was.

“My main job is to make sure fellas are happy. If you have fellas happy and they’re enjoying it, I think you'll get more out of them, so that's the main thing that I'd be looking at.

“I'd be looking to have a happy camp – you're not going to keep everybody happy all the time, but we’ll try and keep as many of them happy for as much of the time as we can.

“In fairness to Pat and his crew, they have a lot of the heavy lifting done - out of their three years, they were in two All-Ireland finals.

“Obviously, the All-Ireland final second half has to be addressed - that doesn't have to be addressed by me at all, the players will do that themselves, and we'll just forget about it, because that's done and dusted, we can't do anything about that, and we're looking forward.”