Dermot Carlin's decision to retire from intercounty football was prompted by a lack of game time.

The Killyclogher clubman won two All-Irelands, one league and one Ulster title with the Red Hands but hasn't featured in the playing squad of late and his role as an unused substitute against Limerick on Sunday was the straw that finally broke the camel's back:

"I told Mickey [Harte] that if I was 24 or 25, I'd have no problem staying there and fighting for my place, which is what I have always done," the 31-year-old told The Irish Daily Mirror.

"But when you get to my age, you need to be playing football, not sitting watching it.

"A lot of people in my position would p,robably have walked away sooner, but it's a privilege to play for Tyrone and when I was there, I always encouraged the younger players to stick at it."

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