The Dublin football management saga - as long-running a production of its type as anyone can remember - came to a close yesterday with the news that John O'Leary is to be the fourth selector in Tom Carr's new management team. He joins Carr, Richie Crean and Dom Twomey, whose appointments were ratified earlier this week by the Dublin county committee.

O'Leary was a candidate for the manager's job and publicly expressed himself disappointed that his application was unsuccessful. On radio last Sunday he assessed his chances of accepting a role as selector at "50, maybe 51 per cent".

At last Wednesday's press conference to introduce the new manager and his other selectors, Carr said that O'Leary would be high up the list of those he was considering for the vacant position of selector.

Yesterday afternoon, Carr was contacted by county secretary John Costello and confirmed that O'Leary had accepted the offer. It remains for the Dublin county committee to ratify the appointment, but no problems are expected on that front when the committee next meets - not until February as annual convention takes place in a month's time.

According to Costello, Carr explained that he "couldn't really overlook someone of O'Leary's vast experience" when filling the final position.

O'Leary retired from intercounty football after last June's defeat by Meath in the Leinster championship - the conclusion of two years of strained relations with Mickey Whelan whose sudden resignation last month created the vacancy now filled.

He had completed 18 seasons as Dublin's goalkeeper and captained the All-Ireland winning side of 1995 when he was the only survivor of the county's previous All-Ireland victory in 1983.

Popular and respected amongst the players, his appointment will be widely welcomed in Dublin GAA circles. It will also bring to an end the speculation surrounding O'Leary and the vacant Cavan manager's job in a week when he also ruled out any interest in running for Fianna Fail in the upcoming Dublin North by-election.