The Disputes Resolution Authority case brought by Declan Bonner and Charlie Mulgrew against the Donegal county board will be heard tonight. The 1992 All-Ireland winners are hoping to prove that the process which selected John Joe Doherty as the new Donegal football manager was flawed. Doherty was ratified as Brian McIvor's successor at the start of this month, but his appointment came after he initially offered the job, only to have that subsequently withdrawn. The joint ticket of Bonner and Mulgrew was then set to be ratified at a county board meeting before Doherty addressed the meeting, which prompted delegates to offer him the job again. Bonner and Mulgrew were enraged at the county board's handling of the situation, though Bonner insists going down the DRA route was a last resort for him and Mulgrew. "I've been involved with Donegal, playing and managing for 15-20 years and the last thing we wanted to do was go outside the county, but this has proved to be absolutely the only avenue open to us," he said. "This is not a road we've gone down lightly, but I think maybe some on the county board thought it was just an idle threat. We're very serious about this. "This has nothing to do with John Joe Doherty. Everyone was hurt in this, Charlie and myself, Jim McGuinness, everyone who was in for the job. We just want to show up how flawed the process was. "It's been a nightmare from the start. I've had more calls and been asked more questions about this than I ever had about anything else in my time as a Donegal player or manager. "It's an absolute disgrace and no one was held responsible. We want to make sure this sort of thing can't happen again." Bonner has vowed not to get involved with Donegal at inter-county level for the foreseeable future after the events of the past month. Tweet

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