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26th Jul 2022

“There could be change on the way for Dublin” – Dessie Farrell future uncertain

Patrick McCarry

Dessie Farrell

The Dublin boss is yet to sit down with the county board for a full review.

On Sunday, after two years of Covid delays, the GAA invited three jubilee teams along to Croke Park on All-Ireland football final day. The 1995 Dublin team were there, but Dessie Farrell was not.

A good few of the lads had gone for the short blades and all were suited and booted. Dublin were first out to soak up the pre-match applause, followed by 1996 and 1997 winners, Meath and Kerry.

Charle Redmond and Jason Sherlock shared a few jokes, Paul Curran got a great reception – his easy grace was not forgotten – and Jim Gavin got some hearty, cheers too. Farrell, who started that 1995 final win over Tyrone, in the half-forward line was not there with his old teammates for the occasion.

The 1995 Dublin All-Ireland winning team as the Jubilee teams are introduced to the crowd before the 2022 GAA All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final. (Photo by Daire Brennan/Sportsfile)

Change could be on the way for Dublin

Ciarán Whelan broke into the Dublin team the year after they won that 1995 All-Ireland Final.

Still close with many of the players that were present for the Jubilee reunion, on Sunday, he was asked by RTE’s Joanne Cantwell – before Kerry’s win over Galway – if he knew about Dessie Farrell not being present.

“Yeah, Dessie’s not there Joanne,” he replied. “As far as I know, he took a bit of a holiday after the Kerry defeat [in the semi-final].

“Yeah, a lot of rumours, the three-year term seems to be up. Whether he’ll go for an extension not, there’s a lot of rumour going around the county that he may not, so there could be change on the way for Dublin.”

Farrell has yet to meet with the Dublin County Board to have a full review on a year that saw Dublin relegated to Division 2 of the Allianz Football League and lose out to Kerry in the All-Ireland semis.

The Na Fianna clubman has been coaching since 2007 and led the Dublin Minors and U21 sides to multiple All-Ireland triumphs. He took over from Jim Gavin in 2019 and won the 2020 All-Ireland with the senior footballers. Dublin were beaten in the last four of the 2021 and 2022 championships.

The extension to his current term would need to be ratified by the county board, in the coming weeks, if that was something that Farrell himself would be keen to pursue.

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