Kerry chair defends appointment process as Jack O’Connor is ratified

Jack O’Connor was ratified as Kerry manager for the third time at a county board meeting on Monday night.

O’Connor was ratified along with Micheál Quirke and Diarmuid Murphy as selectors, with an expectation that former Down manager Paddy Tally will come on board also.

It means O’Connor, who was still the Kildare manager up to last month, will return to a job where he brought success in both of his previous stints. Under his stewardship, Kerry won All-Irelands in 2004, 2006 and 2009 and were beaten All-Ireland finalists in 2005 and 2011.

County chair Tim Murphy categorically denied there was any lack of transparency in the appointment process, claiming all fairness and due respect was maintained throughout the process.

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However, there was some concern expressed by club delegates over the apparent lack of transparency around the appointment progress involving the five-man selection committee. Murphy defended the process as entirely “credible”.

It followed a statement by former manager Peter Keane last week where he said that he wanted to remain in the position and had the backing of his players to do so but those wishes were not taken into account by the county board who have appointed O’Connor instead.

Statement

Keane’s tenure as manager of the Kingdom came to an end with a narrow loss to Tyrone in the All-Ireland semi-final this year and, in a statement released on Friday, he says that was the reason for him being replaced.

Keane also said that the players told the county board they would like him to stay on but “their wishes do not appear to have been considered”.

“Losing the semi-final by one point in extra time to the eventual All-Ireland winners, led to a decision to end the work we had started and the momentum we had built,” the statement reads.

“I know the players very much wanted us to continue with our project. They were the reason I wanted to stay. We were a united Kerry team with a great sense of purpose and ambition. All the players communicated to the County Board sub-committee their strong preference for the present management to be retained. It’s most disappointing that their wishes do not appear to have been considered in the decision-making process.”

Keane went on to pay tribute to his coaching staff, his players and his family over what has been “two very unusual GAA seasons” affected by the pandemic.