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Meath football legend Colm O'Rourke. James Crombie/INPHO

O'Rourke won't put his name forward for Meath post following McEntee departure

The RTÉ pundit cited the abuse directed at former boss Andy McEntee as further reason not to apply for the position in 2022.

MEATH LEGEND AND RTÉ pundit Colm O’Rourke has said he will not put his name forward for The Royals’ senior men’s managerial vacancy following Andy McEntee’s departure.

McEntee announced that he would not be seeking a third term in charge of Meath following their championship exit at the hands of eventual All-Ireland quarter-finalists Clare last weekend.

McEntee, who managed Meath for six years, led his side to Leinster finals in 2018 and 2019. He also steered The Royals to the first division of the National League in 2019, their first appearance in the top tier since 2006.

They were relegated the following season, however, and defeat to The Banner in Ennis last Saturday proved to be the former Ballyboden boss’s final game in charge.

McEntee was consequently the target of some vicious online abuse, which O’Rourke cited as further justification for his lack of interest in the Meath hotseat this time around.

“I’m involved in club management, I’m very happy in club management and I have been for quite a while,” he said during RTÉ’s live coverage of Cork and Limerick’s All-Ireland SFC Round 2 qualifier.

“I did actually go for the Meath job on three occasions in the past and even somebody as stupid as I am would get the hint that when you’re told ‘No’ on three occasions, I think that should put it to bed.

“My beautiful wife Patricia has a very negative view toward managing the county team”, O’Rourke continued, “and with good reason when you see the upshot of Andy McEntee going and the social media abuse than has taken place.

“People who put in enormous time at their own expense – it’s not like Pep Guardiola getting £15m a year – an then being subjected to that sort of thing by unnamed people.

“I can’t understand how, in a society, we can allow people to abuse others without having given their name and address. It’s just a shocking indictment of society in general.”

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