Dessie Farrell has revealed that one of Dublin's most decorated footballers will be unavailable for selection for the 2024 season.
Farrell's Dublin side made hard work of their opening game in the O'Byrne Cup on Saturday afternoon, coming from behind to beat Offaly at Gracefield.
Few of the side which won last year's All-Ireland were to be seen, and Dessie Farrell explained post-match that he was hoping to keep some of the more senior members of the squad fresh for the championship.
Farrell went on to reveal that Dublin will be without eight-time All-Ireland winner David Byrne for 2024.
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David Byrne steps away from Dublin panel
David Byrne has been a mainstay of the Dublin panel ever since breaking in to the squad during the 2012 season.
The Naomh Ólaf man has won eight All-Ireland medals, including each of the six-in-a-row. Byrne has started in four victorious All-Ireland finals for Dublin, including last year's win over Kerry.
Byrne will not be available for selection in 2024, however, with Dessie Farrell revealing that the full-back has chosen to spend the year travelling - something which Farrell said had been coming down the line for some time.
"We're delighted with the comeback & the character that was shown in the second half..."
Dublin Senior Football manager Dessie Farrell spoke to DubsTV after his side's comeback win over Offaly in the Quarter Final of the Dioralyte O’Byrne Cup this afternoon. #UpTheDubs pic.twitter.com/xJcccOGrCq— Dublin GAA (@DubGAAOfficial) January 6, 2024
Farrell also said that the Dublin management was still waiting for decisions from many of their senior players on whether they would stay on for the coming inter-county season:
We probably won't use them [the senior players] in the O'Byrne Cup. The senior lads are operating to a different schedule.
Obviously, we've been back training a couple of weeks now. There's still some bodies, some of the more senior lads to make decisions. We're going to give them that space.
Typically, they wouldn't be used in the early rounds of the league anyway, because they've got a lot of mileage on the clock at this stage. Managing their load and having them right for the right time of the season is going to be important.
We do know David Byrne won't be available this season, he's gone travelling. That's been on the cards for a while. Davey has taken a year out.
Ryan Basquel has decided to hang up the boots as well. Ryan has been involved with the panel for the last few years and been a great servant to Dublin football. Hugely committed character, and he'll be a big loss to the squad.
Outside of that, we've still a couple of weeks to see how some of the cards fall for the senior people. We just want to give them the time that we feel they deserve.
Dublin have now progressed to the semi-finals of the O'Byrne Cup, where they will face Wexford next Saturday in Parnell Park.
They return to Division One of the Allianz League this year and get their campaign underway against Monaghan on January 27th at 7:30 pm in Croke Park.
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