Liam McHale pays tribute to Ronan McGarrity

Ronan retires from Mayo


Liam McHale leads tributes to Ronan McGarrity who has called time on his inter-county career

Mike Finnerty

RONAN MCGARRITY’S ‘finest hour’ for Mayo was the 2004 All-Ireland SFC quarter-final against Tyrone, according to former county star Liam McHale.
The All Star winner was speaking in the wake of McGarrity’s retirement from inter-county football which was confirmed in a national newspaper last weekend.
The 30-year-old played 53 times for the Mayo senior footballers, winning four Connacht championship medals. The Ballina clubman played his final game for the county last June when he came off the bench against Leitrim in the provincial semi-final.
McHale, who was a Mayo selector when McGarrity made his debut in 2004, paid tribute to his club-mate last night.
“Ronan had some very good years with Mayo,” he told The Mayo News. “But his finest hour was the All-Ireland quarter-final against Tyrone in 2004. He was awesome that day, and completely outplayed a guy of the calibre of Sean Cavanagh.
“Ronan loved to play, to compete, and to win. He would be put out if he didn’t play well and the team didn’t win.
“He was a fine athlete, a really good defensively-minded midfielder, who could break up play and link play as good as anyone. I would always have encouraged him to try and get forward more because he was also a very accurate shooter. Very few people could play the role he played.”
McGarrity, who was diagnosed with testicular cancer in 2007, also won an All-Ireland club championship medal with Ballina Stephenites in 2005.
“He came back and played well after his illness, got a new lease of life, and enjoyed his football,” reflected McHale.
“Ronan played well in Croke Park on many occasions and will be a big loss to Mayo. Even allowing for his injury problems, I was actually surprised that he didn’t play some role during the summer, even twenty minutes against Donegal in the All-Ireland [Final],” he concluded.