All-Ireland winning manager and former Fine Gael TD John O’Mahony dies aged 71

The death has occurred at 71 of All-Ireland winning manager John O’Mahony, one of the most influential figures in modern football.

Taoiseach and Fine Gael leader Simon Harris was among those who paid tribute to the former TD and Senator, saying Mr O’Mahony was “a true gentleman who will be greatly missed”.

From Kilmovee in Mayo, Mr O’Mahony settled in Ballaghaderreen, where he was a schoolteacher in the local St Nathy’s and was involved in the town’s GAA club. During his playing career, he won a minor All-Ireland medal in 1971 and his first management impact came 12 years later when he led Mayo to All-Ireland under-21 success in 1983.

His senior managerial career involved a litany of achievements including bringing Mayo to a first senior All-Ireland final in 38 years (1989); Leitrim winning a first Connacht championship in 67 years (1994); and leading Galway to a first Sam Maguire since for 32 years in 1998 and another in 2001.

A friendly and understated man, Mr O’Mahony brought intelligence and empathy to the process of team building and preparation – for instance being an early adopter of the inclusion of sports psychology and performance coaching with his teams.

[ John O’Mahony: ‘I’ve no doubt that if they break the barrier, anything is possible’ ]

He took over Mayo for a second term in 2007 and won the Connacht championship in 2009. By that stage, he had become a TD for Mayo, elected in 2007 and re-elected in 2011. He served in the Seanad from 2016 to 2020.

In recent years, he had been unwell with cancer but had made a recovery. He had been hospitalised with an infection in the past few weeks and although apparently getting better, he died on Saturday with his family present.

The week before last he spoke on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland about the death of his close friend Tommie Gorman, who had collaborated with him in his various management roles, producing motivational material for the teams as well as video analysis. They had been intending to bring former Dublin manager Jim Gavin to an arts festival in August and had targeted that as a deadline for getting out of their respective hospitals.

In a eulogy, Tommie’s son Joe said his father “loved that his friend John O’Mahony brought in a sports psychologist as the Leitrim manager in the early 90s, then Tommie as a video analyst, because John didn’t accept a lack of ambition. John believed”.

He is survived by his wife Gerardine Towey and five daughters: Gráinne, Niamh, Rhona, Deirdre and Clíodhna.

The Taoiseach said Mr O’Mahony was “without a doubt one of the GAA’s finest” managers and that he had an “exceptional career” in sport and politics.

“He was an amiable, decent man and will be a big loss,” he said. “An outstanding politician, he always ensured Mayo and the west of Ireland was well represented.”