Breaking Rory Gallagher resigns as Derry senior football manager

Rory Gallagher has stepped down as Derry senior football manager, the county board has confirmed tonight.

Former assistant manager Ciaran Meenagh will assume the role for the rest of the 2023 season.

Derry GAA said it will be making no further comment at this time.

Mr Gallagher had stepped back from his role last Friday.

The SDLP had called for Mr Gallagher to step aside following serious allegations by his former wife.

Last Friday, SDLP Stormont Assembly member for East Derry Cara Hunter had said the allegations against him needed to be addressed.

Mr Gallagher had earlier issued a statement through his solicitor saying he had been "made aware of a social media post by my estranged wife in which she has made a number of very serious allegations against me".

He said: "Allegations against me have been investigated and dealt with by the relevant authorities."

In a social media posting last week, Nicola Gallagher claimed she had been the victim of domestic violence over a period of years during their marriage.

The PSNI confirmed that it investigated a number of reported incidents and files were submitted to Northern Ireland's Public Prosecution Service (PPS).

In a statement last Thursday, the PPS said it had received two investigation files from the PSNI in January and June 2022 and a decision was made not to prosecute.

It said prosecutors decided there was "insufficient evidence to provide a reasonable prospect of conviction".