Gabriel Bannigan on Monaghan departure: ‘It’s obvious that there were some dark arts at play’

Gabriel Bannigan has shed more light on his departure from his role as manager of the Monaghan football team, saying “there were dark arts at play” behind the scenes with the county board. Bannigan stepped down late on Thursday night after two season in the job but made it clear in his statement that he wasn’t doing so by choice and making reference to goalposts having been moved. Speaking to The Irish Times, he expanded on his view of the situation.“Everyone is wondering what I meant by movement of the goalposts,” he said. “I tried to capture everything in my statement, honestly and diplomatically. I sat down with the county board about six weeks ago and they were unanimous in terms of me staying on for a third year. “I said to them about certain changes I wanted to make to the backroom team and they gave their full support to basically go on and do it. Which I did. I spent five or six weeks doing that. “I went back to them last week and sat down to go through where I was at and what my proposal was. And it was very clear to me that it was a different room now. It was very clear to me that the support that was there five or six weeks ago wasn’t there now. That’s what I mean by moving of the goalposts.READ MORE“And so the conditions are not right for me to continue. Now, what caused goalposts to move is the obvious next question. And I don’t know. Genuinely, I don’t know everything that happened. There’s lots of rumours that I’m hearing, bits and pieces, but I don’t know exactly what the truth is. “But it’s obvious that there were some dark arts at play that caused that shift. And when I talk about dark arts, there’s all sorts of rumours about people being lined up, certain names being mentioned, etc, etc. I don’t know if there’s any truth in any of that.”Never the sort of GAA figure to court controversy, Bannigan is clearly hurt by the process by which his time with Monaghan has ended. He was a selector under Vinny Corey for two years before taking over the role full-time in September 2024. Both of his seasons in charge ended with defeats in the All-Ireland quarter-final – a creditable one against Donegal in 2025 and a disastrous one against 14-man Louth this summer. Gabriel Bannigan with Monaghan fans after the All-Ireland quarter-final against Louth. Photograph: James Lawlor/Inpho It is clear now that the Louth defeat left Bannigan vulnerable. Monaghan went into that game without their most important player in Rory Beggan but when Louth lost Seán Callaghan to a red card in the eighth minute, the odds on Monaghan making a second All-Ireland semi-final in four seasons shortened considerably. Failing to see out that game meant there were always likely to be changes in the off-season, which Bannigan himself tried to instigate with a refresh of his backroom. Sources in Monaghan have suggested that there was a cohort of players looking for wholesale changes at the top although that is by no means a unanimous view across the panel. Bannigan’s nephew Micheál is the team captain and there was significant support for management from within the playing staff.Either way, the mood moved against Bannigan somewhere in the past six weeks. It has led to a messy ending, including the unusual situation on Thursday night whereby the Monaghan county board statement on the situation contained quotes from the departing manager criticising the county board itself.“It’s honesty,” says Bannigan now. “It’s not criticism. It’s honesty. Like, the goalposts did move. The support that I had five or six weeks ago, I didn’t have in the last week. That’s just honesty. Well, maybe it is a little bit of criticism. “Could this have been handled better if they didn’t want me to stay on? Why the hell waste my time for the last five or six weeks? You’re either backing your manager or you’re not. And that’s what I said to them. I said, ‘Look, you’re either backing me or I go.’ But I didn’t want to go. I didn’t want it to be like this.”The Monaghan county board have been approached for comment.