*Dermot Thornton.
DERMOT Thornton has been appointed as the new manager of the Clare minor footballers with a former county footballer included among his selectors.
Kerry native Dermot was ratified as manager of the minor footballers at Tuesday’s meeting of the Clare County Board which was held in Caherlohan.
He succeeds Joe Hayes who had been in charge for the past two seasons. No specific term was given for Thornton’s tenure when his appointment was put to the floor by Clare GAA Chairman Kieran Keating.
Ex Clare defender, Dean Ryan who spent seven years on the county senior football side is on board as one of Dermot’s coaches and selectors. The Ennis native is the holder of two Clare SFC medals and has previously lined out for Na Fianna in the capital.
Cooraclare’s Declan McMahon will also be to the fore in the coaching of the minors. He was in charge of the Milesians side which won the Division 1 minor league final last year. He was corner back on the Cooraclare side which contested the 2015 Clare SFC decider, losing 0-13 0-9 to St Joseph’s Miltown.
Thornton, Ryan and McMahon were in charge of the Clare U16 side in 2026, guiding them to Gerry Reidy League final success after defeating Louth on penalties.
Further additions “on the coaching side” are to be made to the management in the coming weeks, Chairman Keating confirmed.
Currently a Gaelic Games Development Coordinator with Clare GAA, Dermot’s appointment as minor manager had to be sanctioned by Munster GAA given that he is a paid employee of the Association.
He has held this role since last 2023 and prior to this played a key role in the development of both codes overseas, serving as Warwickshire GAA’s Community Development Administrator. He is not currently attached to any GAA club in Clare.
Announcing the appointment on Tuesday, Chairman Keating stated, “The group that were in charge at Under-16 were proposed a couple of weeks ago. That’s Dermot Thornton, Declan McMahon and Dean Ryan. Dermot is one of our GDA’s, so they’ll step up and take charge of our minor team and they’ve been nominated by the management committee for ratification here tonight.
