Fitzpatrick and Brolly Blast Derry for Appointing Harte

The fallout from Derry GAA’s recent decision to appoint Mickey Harte as their new football manager has continued apace over the past few days.

Having previously managed Tyrone, most people thought it would have been impossible for Harte to cross the divide between the two clubs.

Harte was axed by Tyrone three years ago and was subsequently appointed by Louth, but jumped ship with his assistant Gavin Devlin when Derry came calling.

The move upset Louth GAA chairman Peter Fitzpatrick, and he has now hit back at Derry for the underhanded way they went about securing Harte’s services. 

After appointing former Dublin star Ger Brannan to replace Harte on a two-year deal, Fitzpatrick said he was unhappy with the manner of Harte’s exit.

“I said it at the county board meeting – I think it’s a wee bit disappointing the way Derry approached the Louth manager knowing that Mickey and Gavin had still two more years to work with us,” Fitzpatrick said.

“We never once approached any other county that already had a manager in place. I think you have to be respectful of these people.

“Managers from other clubs did contact me but I had no interest in them at all. The bottom line is that we’ve put a lot of work in over the last two weeks – it felt like six months, but I think we made the right decision.

“I think we’ve made it at the right time, given the manager an opportunity to come in and have a look to see what’s available.

“That dressing room, talking to those (Louth) players, it’s really, really lifted an awful lot off their shoulders because the last two weeks have been a very, very tough two weeks listening to people giving their opinions.”

While Fitzpatrick was saddened by Harte’s departure, his move to Derry sparked plenty of talk about them emerging as potential All-Ireland champions next season.

Online bookmakers were quick to react, cutting Derry’s odds to win only their second ever championship to 7/1 when the news broke.

Several of the top Irish bookmakers for GAA betting have continued to see support for Derry, with the three-time title winning manager fancied by many punters to end their long wait to lift the trophy.

One man who is not enamoured with Harte’s arrival in the Derry hot-seat is Joe Brolly, who was a member of their title-winning team back in 1993.

Brolly blasted the decision on social media when the appointment was first announced and he has doubled down with his criticism this month.

He delivered an expletive-laden rant on the Free State podcastwhere he hammered home why he was so vehemently opposed to Harte the former Tyrone boss joining Derry.

“The Derry board is squandering all our inheritance, all our Derryness, all our Bellaghy-ness, our Dungiven-ness, our Slaughtneil-ness – all the things that we laboured for, for our community,” Brolly said.

“He’s a stranger to us, and he shouldn’t be near us. The Derry board is a caravan of fools.”