Fionnuala McLaughlin opts out of Mayo ladies panel on ‘short-term’ basis

THE Mayo ladies will be without yet another key player for their upcoming league game against Dublin as Fionnuala McLaughlin has opted out of the Mayo panel. 

McLaughlin, who has starred for Mayo and Westport in recent seasons, will not be available for intercounty duty ‘for the short term’, Mayo senior team manager, Liam McHale, told The Mayo News. 

McLaughlin is currently studying in primary school teaching in St Patrick’s in Dublin City University. She is also engaged in showjumping - a sport she has taken part in from a young age. 

The 21-year-old has become a key player for the Mayo seniors since breaking onto the starting team last year. 

“It just wouldn’t be practical running and racing and trying to make everything,” McHale explained when asked about her departure from the panel. 

Her departure comes following the departure of numerous players from the Mayo ladies panel, including the Cafferky sisters, the Needham sisters, Éilis Ronayne and the experienced Fiona McHale.

Liam McHale that the players who opted out had departed for ‘a variety of reasons’.

“Travel, study, fatigue, all that, the same has happened this year, which I didn’t think would happen again, but it’s a trend in the women’s game,” said McHale. 

Several players opted out of the Mayo panel last year, including former All-Star Shauna Howley. Several Australia-based former Mayo footballers have also yet to return to intercounty football. 

McHale said that playing intercounty football is ‘a lot tougher, logistically, financially’ for women due to the lack of support for female footballers. 

“What the guys get they deserve - and ten times more - but the girls are a long way behind that at the moment,” the ex-Mayo senior men’s team coach said.

“It’s a lot tougher, logistically, financially and the support isn’t there that is in the men’s game,” added McHale.

“We’ve had two years like that where really good players have just opted out for all sorts of different reasons. It was ten last year and ten or eleven again this year. We have a very big county and we’re lucky because the underage structures are very good because the young players that are coming in are very high standard and we’re delighted with the ones that have come in.”

In addition to McLaughlin’s absence, Mayo will also be missing new panellists Clodagh Keane, Lilian Keane and Mary McHale through injury. 

The green and red will face the All-Ireland champions, Dublin, in Parnell Park on Saturday as they seek to retain their Division 1 status. 

The Mayo ladies finished fifth in last year’s league following three wins, three losses and a draw in McHale’s first season as manager. 

While describing their trip to the capital as ‘a tough task’, McHale expressed confidence in the ability of his panel, which contains several new additions. 

Mayo were beaten 1-10 0-5 when they last met Dublin in a championship match in Parnell Park last summer. 

“The commitment is there and the potential is there. I might not be around to see it, but if this group sticks together they’ll be a hell of a team down the road,” said McHale.