Fermanagh's Eoin Donnelly has announced his retirement from inter-county football.
Donnelly has been a mainstay of the side for the past decade and, indeed, was captain of the side for the majority of his career. He has cited the travel from his home in Carryduff, near Belfast, as the main reason for his decision.
The midfielder has endured a trying couple of years as a frontline worker - he’s a respiratory physiotherapist at the Ulster Hospital in Dundonald - and the recent arrival of a new-born son heavily influenced his decision, which he informed new manager Kieran Donnelly of this week.
He told the Impartial Reporter: “I knew it was going to be on the horizon soon and I knew there was a lot to weigh up but at the same time I would love to have kept going, especially with Kieran coming in as I have a lot of respect for him and also with the players that are there as well as it’s such a good group of lads.
“At the end of the day, the travelling was taking its toll and then with the wee man arriving it was going to be selfish of me to keep going and I had to come to terms with that.
“I had 10 good years of it and I’m content with the decision now.”
The highlights of Donnelly’s days with Fermanagh were All-Ireland quarter-final and Ulster final appearances in 2015 and ‘18 respectively, as well as an extended stay in Division Two of the Allianz League.
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