Odhran Mac Niallais says he will take a break from football following Gaoth Dobhair’s All-Ireland semi-final loss to Corofin on Saturday.
Saturday’s defeat in Carrick-on-Shannon was just three weeks after four young men, including Gaoth Dobhair player Micheál Roarty, lost their lives in a road traffic accident in west Donegal.
Mac Niallais returned to the Donegal panel in 2018, having stepped away in 2017, when he played in America that summer.
While some of his Gaoth Dobhair team-mates may well make a swift return into Declan Bonner’s Donegal squad, Mac Niallais won’t be rushing things.
“I’ll take a while out now anyway to see what happens,” he said.
“I will chat to Declan (Bonner) and the boys and see what their plans are.
“I will have a few weeks out. I am nearly two years now on the go and it is non-stop. I just need a break, especially after the last few weeks.
“I just need a break, especially after the last few weeks.
“It’s tough. I just need a bit of time out. There is a lot of pressure and I need to do a bit of relaxing.”
Mac Niallais said the tragedy last month had put football into perspective.
He said: “It’s been heart breaking really. It puts football to the back of your mind really for the last few weeks. It really shows you what is important in life and it’s your family, your friends. Football, yeah it gives you a lift and it is enjoyable and all…
“But at the end of the day, Micheál was a very, very close friend of mine and you never, ever expect something like that to happen.
“It’s just heart breaking. For family and everyone close to him. I just don’t know how… Your heart goes out to them.”
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