McCabe to remain as GDM as backroom to be confirmed

GAA news

Dermot McCabe will remain on as Cavan GAA’s Head of Games now that he has been appointed as senior county manager, the county board have confirmed.

McCabe was proposed by the county management committee on Monday night, with his back-room team yet to be announced. It is understood that Mark McHugh, a selector under McCabe with Westmeath, will not be involved, with sources stating that Redhills native Fintan Reilly, joint-manager of Gowna with McCabe from 2021-23, may be a selector.

“Dermot has a passion for Cavan, anyone that knows him knows that,” stated county board chairman Mark O’Rourke yesterday (Tuesday).

“He is definitely driven and he made a top-class presentation and the panel were very impressed with that.

“He feels that the players are there in Cavan to achieve success and he wants to drive Cavan forward.”

Treasurer Tom Moore had withdrawn from the interview process, presumably due to a conflict of interest as he comes from the same club as candidate Finbar O’Reilly. Moore was replaced on the selection panel by former Cavan footballer Niall Murray.

O’Reilly withdrew from the process on the eve of the interviews.

“There were two nominations from the clubs for two people in Cavan, Dermot McCabe and Finbar O’Reilly,” explained O’Rourke.

“We thought both were very credible candidates with very good track records. We felt that we were happy to stay with those two. The interviews were arranged for Saturday morning, Finbar pulled out late on Friday night and we went ahead with the interview with Dermot on Saturday morning.”

Asked if the committee considered speaking to more than one prospective candidate for the position, O’Rourke stated: “After Saturday we were happy with the candidate that we had and we were happy to put forward Dermot for ratification.”

The management committee unanimously supported the decision, O’Rourke said, explaining “there were a number of questions as you would expect, but absolutely”.

McCabe’s backroom team should be in place in the coming days, he said. Among the other names rumoured to be on board are a former leading county board officer and a former county board coach.

“To be fair to both candidates, we knew both would put strong backroom teams together, whoever was going to not get the job, it might not be fair on them to have put a load of work into putting a backroom together.

“We knew that they would have some work done on it, I’m not sure what Finbar had put together but Dermot certainly has a number of people on board. It’s not finalised but we are hoping it will be by next Monday’s county board meeting.

“It’s not all in place but a number of people are in place.”

McCabe’s role as Head of Games proved controversial when he was appointed Westmeath manager, with some opposition to his combining both roles voiced at county board level. Inter-county management is reckoned to be a 40 to 50-hour per week commitment.

“That question was raised last night,” O’Rourke said, “and of course we mentioned it on Saturday when we were talking to Dermot and Dermot gave us assurances that his job won’t be affected. We were all disappointed when he was appointed as Westmeath manager but he has been our Head of Games for the last 12 months while he was the Westmeath manager. We feel now that as Cavan manager he will have more time in Cavan.

“He’s well capable of doing both roles. It is time consuming being a senior manager, we understand that, but Dermot has given us assurances… there is no doubt as to the time and effort he puts into it.

“Regardless of who we appointed as manager, they were going to have a day job anyway, most inter-county managers have a day job.”

A number of Cavan players approached McCabe to encourage him to go for the job, the Anglo-Celt understands. This was not a factor in the decision, however, O’Rourke said.

“We went in with an open mind. We met a number of times, I’m not exactly sure of the timings of it, the approaches by players to Dermot were prior to the nominations.”

McCabe will be manager for a minimum of three years.

“We are proposing a three-year term, that would be normal, any manager needs that.”

McCabe won’t be the U20 manager but will work closely with whoever is, O'Rourke said.

“We did talk about the U20s on Saturday as well. Dermot is of the opinion, as we all are, that there does need to be very good communication between the U20 management and the seniors and the U17s and U20s as well. Dermot said if appointed he would welcome the U20 players attending the senior sessions… Communication is vital across all those age groups and to develop a style of play for Cavan.”

O’Rourke said he is excited for the future and glad to bring the process to a conclusion, pending ratification from the clubs.

“Dermot is driven and has a passion for it and it’s always something he wanted. As is the case with Finbar, I’d wish him all the best and there’s no doubt he will manage Cavan in the future as well. I’d like to also thank Raymond Galligan and his backroom team for all their efforts and wish them all the best as well,” he said.

The Anglo-Celt attempted to contact the new manager yesterday (Tuesday).