Rory Gallagher: Derry get cold feet over reappointing former boss for second time

Derry GAA have had a late change of heart over reappointing Rory Gallagher as senior football manager. A ticket of Gallagher and his former selector, Enda Muldoon, was due to be put to the county's executive committee this evening but the plan has now been shelved.

Even though they are the reigning League champions and were in the 2023 All-Ireland semi-finals, Derry have struggled to find a new boss and are the only county in Ireland without a senior football manager.

They have been without a manager since Mickey Harte stepped down in July, and a number of prospective candidates have ruled themselves out. It is also believed Oak Leaf legend Enda Muldoon - who worked with Gallagher before - could return and even head up the management team.

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It was Gallagher who delivered their first Ulster title in 24 years in 2022, but he stepped away from the post shortly before their 2023 Ulster final meeting with Armagh.

A couple of days before that game, Gallagher's estranged wife, Nicola, posted allegations of domestic abuse against him on social media.

Gallagher stood down and released a statement through a solicitor in May of last year stating that the allegations had been "investigated and dealt with by the relevant authorities''.

Four months later, it was revealed that Gallagher had been ''temporarily debarred, without prejudice" while an independent safeguarding panel investigated those allegations on behalf of Ulster GAA.

The barring order was lifted in February of this year after a hearing before the GAA's Disputes Resolution Authority. This meant that Gallagher was free to return to coaching and management.

A statement from his solicitors Phoenix Law then said: "There is no legal impediment to our client undertaking or accepting a role as a GAA Senior Football manager. Our client fully intends to return to inter county management in the near future.

"Two separate investigations have led - rightly - to decisions by the PPS not to prosecute. Mr Gallagher has not been charged with a single offence," the statement continued.

But when it was revealed that he was in the frame to return to the Derry post a couple of months ago, there was a considerable backlash - with former All-Ireland winner Gary Coleman stating he would no longer go to the county's games if that happened.

In September, it seemed as if Gallagher's hopes of returning were dashed when the Derry County Board issued a statement saying that he was ''not in consideration for the position''.

But influential Derry players have been keen to get Gallagher back on board, and the word was that they were going to get their way, before this late change of heart in the county.

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