Paddy Carr has vowed to give ‘body, soul, heart and mind’ as Donegal manager.
Carr has given up his role as the principal of Colaiste na Mí in Navan to focus on the task of bringing silverware to Donegal.
Carr was installed as Declan Bonner’s successor at a county committee meeting on Monday night in Convoy with former Armagh player Aidan O’Rourke appointed as head coach.
“I will do everything in my power to facilitate the Donegal senior football team becoming the best version of itself imaginable,” Carr said.
“We are very well aware of the responsibilities that come with this position. I will give my body, soul, heart and mind to the cause of Donegal football.”
O’Rourke and Carr were nominated and interviewed separately for the job before pooling their resources.
The appointment is for an initial two-year term although the agreement will be reviewed after the 2023 Championship.
Carr said: “We have our expectations. Without a doubt, we believe that there is enormous potential in Donegal. We have to maximise the talent that is there.
“We wouldn’t put ourselves in this position unless we felt that we could drive it forward.”
O’Rourke, who works as the Performance Sport Manager at Queen’s University, Belfast, was previously on backroom teams in Kildare, Armagh and Down.
The 2002 All-Ireland winner said: “The year ahead is about maximising. That is the total focus.
“This isn’t about reshaping or anything like that. It’s about finding the small percentage points as best we can.”
Jim McGuinness was among those spoken to by Donegal GAA chiefs in recent weeks.
Martin McHugh, Karl Lacey, Sean Paul Barrett and Rory Kavanagh, who was seen as the front runner until last week, were also spoken to about the role.
Carr hails from Fanad in north Donegal but, after his family moved, he played his club football with Kilmacud Crokes in Dublin and Walterstown in Meath. In 2009, he led the Crokes to an All-Ireland senior club title.
A member of the Gaeil Fhánada club, Carr, who played briefly for Donegal in the 1980s, still has a base in Fanad.
He said: “The proudest thing I have ever done is put on the Donegal jersey.”
Their ascension came 97 days after Bonner sat in the same room to announce his resignation from the role in front of the same delegates.
Carr said of Bonner: “Declan is a hero of mine. He is a legend after what he gave to Donegal football.”
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