Six-time All-Ireland winner Paul Mannion has no regrets over his decision to walk away from inter-county football.

As his former team-mates continue preparations for the defence of their Leinster and All-Ireland SFC crowns, the Kilmacud Crokes clubman explained to RTE Sport why he opted out of Dessie Farrell’s squad this year.

“It’s the day-to-day, week-to-week commitment that you have to give to be your best when you are in that team,” he outlined.

“It’s not just a training thing. It’s travel hours, preparation time, meeting time, making sure you are getting enough sleep, eating the right food, recovering properly, doing your homework if you are reviewing opposition.

“It’s a huge commitment when you add all that up.

“It felt that, in the last year or so, I was kind of struggling to commit myself to the standards that I had in times gone by. I found myself also wanting to spend time on different things.

“Last year, having the time off because of Covid, that fed into my thought process as well. Suddenly football stops, you don’t have to go training and to matches, you realise how much spare time you actually do have.”

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