Ronan Devlin opens up on Cargin future after being linked with county vacancies

The Ballinderry clubman was linked with the managerial vacancies in both Derry and Antrim in recent weeks

Ronan Devlin insists his head was never turned by managerial and coaching vacancies and that his sole focus his on helping Cargin retain the Antrim SFC title.

The Ballinderry native has twice been linked to the Derry job. He was a 10/1 shot to replace Mickey Harte this time last year and was also touted as a potential replacement for Paddy Tally before the Derry county board appointed Ciaran Meenagh to the role.

Antrim have also been on the lookout for a replacement for Andy McEntee in recent weeks.

That search came to a conclusion on Tuesday night when Slaughtneil manager and Down native Mark Doran got the nod.

Devlin has been a key factor in Cargin’s recent dominance of Antrim football. He coached the Toome men to a hat-trick of titles under Damien Cassidy from 2018 to 2020 and managed them to another hat-trick from 2022 to ’24.

Speaking after last Sunday’s 4-14 to 1-11 win over St John’s, a result that confirmed their place in the quarter-finals, Devlin stressed that winning a fourth successive McNamee Cup with Cargin remains his top priority.

When asked if he’d given consideration to roles with Derry or Antrim, Devlin replied: “No, absolutely not. To be honest, it wouldn’t really be something I’d welcome because I wouldn’t want to take my eye off this.

“You know, if I started looking at something else. . . if I messed up here, I would blame myself forever. So I’d rather just get this job done. And our job, I hope it goes on for months and months.”

Cargin face Dunloy in their final group game in what is a repeat of the 2023 county final.

Devlin is without Jamie Gribbin for the rest of the season while Pat Shivers is currently sidelined with a broken arm.

Conhuír Johnston is also in danger of missing the Dunloy clash through suspension, but Cargin are planning to appeal his controversial red card from last weekend’s St John’s tie at Corrigan Park.