John O’Mahony hopes a compromise can be reached that will allow Justin McNulty continue his work in Stormont and also remain as Laois senior football manager.
McNulty was suspended by the SDLP after he left the first sitting of the new Northern Ireland Assembly at Stormont on Saturday to manage Laois in their Division Four league clash away to Wexford.
Several members of the SDLP subsequently outlined their displeasure with McNulty’s decision to take a helicopter to Wexford, departing Belfast before his party colleague Matthew O’Toole was confirmed as leader of the opposition.
The SDLP offered McNulty the option of returning as a councillor and co-opting his MLA seat, but it has been indicated the former Armagh footballer will not be doing so, and, if he is not reinstated, the 2002 All-Ireland winner would consider sitting as an independent. Discussions between McNulty and senior SDLP officials are ongoing.
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O’Mahony knows more about juggling politics and sport than most, having managed Mayo while serving as a TD in Dáil Éireann.
Indeed, he was first elected as TD for the Mayo constituency just days after managing the county in a 2007 Connacht SFC opener against Galway.
O’Mahony, who had previously managed his native county in the 80s and early 90s, was appointed Mayo manager for a second time in November 2006. O’Mahony and McNulty have in the past worked together on campaigns – and the former has shown it is possible to be an intercounty manager while operating in politics.
“I suppose a big difference was that I was coaching in the county where my constituents were,” says O’Mahony.
“The difficulty for Justin is that he is an MLA in one part of the country and managing a team in the other part of the country, but I know how hard he works as an MLA. I also know he is a very dedicated coach, very progressive and somebody who has a deep interest in coaching.
“It’s obviously for them to work out, but I would hope they can find a compromise because it is a huge benefit for the SDLP to have him.”
Before fully committing himself to the world of elections and policy, O’Mahony remembers talking to Enda Kenny on the logistics of marrying politics and sport. But once he got the go-ahead from the Fine Gael leader, O’Mahony took the plunge.
Mayo lost their Connacht SFC opener to Galway in Pearse Stadium on May 20th, 2007. The general election took place four days later. After watching his Mayo side lose to the Tribesmen in Salthill on the Sunday afternoon, O’Mahony wasn’t quite able to pull the curtains over and bolt the door behind him that night.
“The team was in huge transition at the time but it was a disappointing defeat,” recalls O’Mahony. “I actually had to come back that night to a political meeting in Kiltimagh. Your head was down after the game, but you had to fulfil the political side of things as well.
“I had a great campaign team and we had a huge rally on the Sunday night. It was a hectic period, but it was important you didn’t neglect either side.”
One of the most successful managers in the game, O’Mahony guided Leitrim to a famous Connacht title in 1994 before landing two All-Ireland crowns with Galway in 1998 and 2001. His second stint as Mayo manager lasted until 2010, while he remained a TD until 2016. That same year he was nominated by taoiseach Enda Kenny to the 25th Seanad.
When the Dáil was sitting, O’Mahony found a routine which allowed him maintain both roles. He would work in his office in Claremorris on Monday, travel to Dublin on Tuesday where that night along with Jim Kilty he would train the Mayo players based in the capital.
He returned to Mayo on Thursday to oversee training in Castlebar that night, Friday was set aside for his constituency clinics, Saturday for training and Sunday a match depending on the weekend fixture schedule. And then it would start all over again on the Monday.
“You had to be disciplined and organised,” adds O’Mahony. “You went straight from an intensive training session maybe to a public meeting. It was hectic but you didn’t really have time to be thinking about it, you just got on with it.
“There might have been a perception among some in Mayo that I was missing on the Tuesday night but in many ways by training the Dublin-based players in Dublin it solved a problem for us rather than them having to travel over and back two nights a week.
“Players from a number of other counties joined us at times too, so some nights there could be 23 or 24 players at training there, so it added value as I saw it. Tommy Lyons and Kieran Gallagher looked after the training in Castlebar on a Tuesday night and we’d be in touch immediately afterwards.”
O’Mahony managed Mayo to Connacht SFC success in 2009, beating Galway in the provincial decider. There were championship debuts that year for several players including Aidan O’Shea, Donal Vaughan, Kevin McLoughlin and Ger Cafferkey. Colm Boyle and Tom Parsons had been handed their bows the previous season.
And while it was common for O’Mahony to get asked about football on the doorsteps, he says politics was not talked about inside the sanctuary of the green and red squad.
“No, I was very careful never to mention politics in the dressingroom,” he says. “Because I was very conscious there were players who would be supporters of different political parties so I never allowed it to be brought up.
“My campaign team were great and some of them would have been very enthusiastic in coming up with ideas, but any suggestions along the lines of getting the lads involved I would have said absolutely not.
“I think you are more respected if you keep it separate and that’s what I always tried to do.”
And having managed to fulfil both roles for four years, O’Mahony feels it is possible for McNulty to manage Laois while remaining in Stormont.
“I don’t know the ins and outs of it, but hopefully a compromise can be found, he is a very hard-working MLA and brings a lot to the party. The season has started positively for Laois as well with two wins, so hopefully something can be worked out between both sides.”
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