Bonner commends ‘complete professional’ McGrath

Declan Bonner has paid tribute to Paddy McGrath following the announcement from inter-county football over the weekend.

McGrath, 32, was an All-Ireland winner in 2012 and won five Ulster crowns having made his inter-county debut back in 2010 under the management of John Joe Doherty - the same year he won a provincial under-21 title and reached an All-Ireland final with Jim McGuinness’s team.

“I spoke to Paddy three weeks ago and I think he had his mind made up at the end of the summer,” Donegal manager Bonner said today at the Donegal Training Centre in Convoy. “Injuries haven’t been kind to Paddy over the last couple of years but what a servant he has been. 

“He’s a complete professional in everything he does, on and off the pitch. He treated every training session as an All-Ireland final. There were no half measures. Everything he does is 100 percent. He’s come to his decision that the time has come and he’s even had a difficult time playing for a sustained period for his club, Ardara.”