THERE will be no awkward exchanges in the corridors of Croke Park if Ryan McMenamin comes into contact with any of his former Fermanagh charges before this weekend’s Division Three decider.
It is less than 18 months since Mickey Graham asked the ex-Tyrone star to come onboard with Cavan, and fate has pitted him against the Ernemen three times in that period – with Saturday a second meeting in the space of six days after last summer’s Tailteann Cup clash.
Having spent four years with Fermanagh – two under Rory Gallagher, two as manager – the connection to the group remains strong still, with McMenamin finding himself shooting the breeze ahead of Sunday’s final League fixture at Kingspan Breffni.
“Look, we all left on good terms.
“I was chatting with a pile of them on Sunday, I’d be chatting to the two Cullens [Che and Lee] regularly, I think they’re looking to meet for a coffee some day up in Enniskillen.
“And then I would know Kieran [Donnelly], I was chatting to Ronie O’Neill before... I had a lot of good times, they’re all good fellas so you just move on from it.”
Yet part of that time when he donned the Fermanagh bainisteoir’s bib must feel like a fever dream now.
So much effort had gone in under Gallagher, during which time the Ernemen reached the 2018 Ulster final – even bringing then DUP leader, and proud Fermanagh woman, Arlene Foster to St Tiernach’s Park for the provincial showpiece.
A spirited push for Division One the next year fell flat at the last and when Gallagher stepped away from his native county, McMenamin brought continuity by carrying on in the job.
But he couldn’t have imagined the chaos that lay around the corner, the Covid-19 pandemic throwing the 2020 National League into flux as a depleted Fermanagh panel dropped out of Division Two.
Championship debuts were handed to emerging youngsters like Sean McNally, Luke Flanagan and Josh Largo-Ellis – now key components of Kieran Donnelly’s side – as McMenamin placed his faith in youth. He had little choice.
From the panel that travelled to Clones for the Ulster final three years earlier, 16 were no longer available for a variety of reasons, the absence of seasoned campaigners like Ryan and Conall Jones, the Cullen brothers and forward pair Tomas and Ruairi Corrigan not easy to replace in a county seldom overburdened with options.
There was shock in some quarters when he called time after two years at the helm, but the three-time All-Ireland winner has no regrets about stepping up to the plate.
“No, definitely not. If you hadn’t stepped up you’d always have a regret. Did it go the way you wanted it to? It probably didn’t. At the end of the day we were a kick of a ball away from being promoted [from Division Three] against Offaly, it didn’t happen, that’s life.
“There was a slight transition in the squad, you’ve a lot of them young boys all playing now who were coming into the squad then, they’ve three or four years’ experience under them now.
Covid definitely did derail you in the first year, then going into the second year, but you learn from it and you hope you become a better manager as a result of it.
“You hope you learn from your mistakes, things you would have done differently, things you tried out that didn’t work. But look if you didn’t try these things you wouldn’t learn. I enjoyed my time there, I learnt a lot.”
His coaching journey has continued in Cavan where the Breffnimen have gone from strength to strength, building impressively en route to promotion to Division Two.
And McMenamin admits he was quite happy to take a step back when hooking up with Graham.
“Sometimes it’s better being in the back seat than the front seat,” he laughs.
“I enjoy the role, there’s no ego with Mickey, every point you make, he takes it onboard, he doesn’t mind you getting the last word in if he thinks you’re right and you feel strongly enough about it.
“We all leave our egos at the door and I think the results have probably been showing that the last couple of years.”
