Dublin GAA star Barry Cahill

There's another lesson for the GAA with the announcement that Dublin star Barry Cahill has called it a day as an inter-county footballer.

After 11 years in the famous blue jersey, and with a cherished All-Ireland medal in his possession, Barry has decided that enough is enough.

In a statement released via those fine men in the GPA, Cahill said, “Having played 11 championship seasons with Dublin, I now feel the time is right to hang up my inter-county boots. I must also consider the development of my career outside of football.”

Those who know him well say that Barry has become disillusioned with the constant need for medical help to cope with the demands of modern day football.

A bad ankle injury has seen him taking injections just to get through training sessions in recent years, and enough is now clearly enough.

Cahill will be missed. He had yet to play for new boss Jim Gavin, but he would have been a useful player to have in the Dublin dressing room come the summer.

Like every player he can be and will be replaced, but Cahill is one of the last of a dying breed.

Few of those embarking on inter-county careers with the top teams now will last beyond five or six seasons at the highest level, such are the demands on the very best players.  That is something the GAA needs to look at.

And the likes of Barry Cahill, 11 years a proud Dub, will be well worth talking to. 

Sideline Views

HURLING: Galway boss Anthony Cunningham is adamant his team never meant to snub All-Ireland champions Kilkenny with their lack of a guard of honor at Salthill on Sunday. Tradition has it that the MacCarthy Cup winners are welcomed onto the pitch in their next competitive outing, so I can’t help but feel that Galway are still sore about their replay defeat last September – no matter what Cunningham says.

HURLING: Nice touch by the Kilkenny full-back JJ Delaney, who opted to wear the number 29 shirt against Galway on Sunday and not the number three jersey. More than one paper has suggested JJ made the move in honor of Noel Hickey, who retired after last year’s All-Ireland win. I hope the story is true.

GAA: Galway club Ballinasloe won the All-Ireland junior club final on Sunday when they beat Kenmare at Croke Park – in borrowed jerseys. Turns out the men from the West traveled to Dublin without their jerseys and had to borrow some from local club Na Fianna. The mistake clearly worked in their favor.

GAA: Oisin McConville finally retired at the weekend after one of the most decorated histories in club football history. An All-Ireland winner with Armagh, McConville will be remembered for his incredible achievements with Crossmaglen along the way. He will be missed.

HERO OF THE WEEK

KENNY Egan brought down the curtain on his illustrious boxing career after his defeat to Joe Ward at the national finals in Dublin’s Stadium on Friday night. He bowed out a loser, but Egan was anything but not over the course of a 13-year career at the highest level of amateur international boxing. His career was also, to say the least, checkered, but he will always have a place in the annals of Irish boxing history.

IDIOT OF THE WEEK

SWANSEA won the Capitol One Cup final against Bradford at Wembley on Sunday, but winger Nathan Dyer came across as a complete idiot when he threw a strop because he wasn’t let take a penalty kick to complete his hat-trick. Dyer just proved that some Premier League footballers are spoilt brats with his petulant behavior. He also took the gloss off a great story.