'The time feels right' for Antrim's Carey to step away

After giving more than 20 years of service to the Saffron cause, Antrim stalwart Cathy Carey feels the time is now right to step away from inter-county women's football.

Since making her senior debut way back in 2002, the St Ergnat's Moneyglass star has established herself as a key component of the Ulster side.

Having appeared off the bench for Antrim’s TG4 All-Ireland junior football championship success over Limerick in 2009, she was listed at right half-forward when Northern Ireland soccer international Kirsty McGuinness inspired the Saffrons to a final victory against Louth in the same competition three years later.

Following showpiece defeats to Longford and Wicklow in 2016 and 2021 respectively, she scored 2-1 in a superb captain’s performance as Antrim defeated provincial rivals Fermanagh to claim their third All-Ireland junior crown in a replayed fixture at the Athletic Grounds, Armagh in August 2022.

Last year saw them narrowly losing out to Clare at the semi-final stage of the TG4 All-Ireland intermediate championship, but even though there is a sense they could push on to even greater heights, Carey will be watching on from the outside in 2024.

"I suppose I’m pushing on a wee bit. It has been 20 odd years of playing senior county, so there’s been a lot in that. I kind of started thinking about it midway through last season. Then getting towards the end of the season, I started to talk about it a wee bit," Carey explained.

"We’ve good underage coming through the county. It’s other people’s time to play and represent the county, I’ve kind of done my service. In terms of whether I’d be physically ready, I probably would be, but I just felt it was time to do it and finish up there.

"It has been a long stint, but that is