There was a shock development in Clare footballing this summer, with Keelan Sexton announcing that he was set to step away from inter-county football despite being just 28-years old. The forward, who had lived in Dublin for a number of years, felt he could no long commit the time necessary to play for Clare.

Sexton had also transferred away from his home club earlier this year, making the difficult decision to leave Kilmurry-Ibrickane. He would join Dublin’s Na Fianna, going on to play a pivotal role for their senior team.

The Clare native would score 1-4 in Na Fianna’s county quarter-final victory over Ballymun Kickhams over the weekend, having missed out on the starting XV due to a slight injury.

He will be hoping to help Na Fianna end a long county title drought over the coming weeks, with their most recent triumph coming all the way back in 2001.

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Ex Clare Forward Explains Decision To Make Dublin Club Transfer

With club transfers involving high profile players remaining relatively rare in the GAA, there is always plenty of attention given to those who do opt to switch teams.

Shane Walsh received quite a bit of criticism on the back of his decision to join Kilmacud Crokes in recent years, with a number of other inter-county players being part of transfers ahead of the 2025 season.

Speaking after the win over Ballymun, Keelan Sexton admitted that his decision to leave Kilmurry-Ibrickane is one that weighed heavily on him.

I live here, I work here. I was living in Stoneybatter for a long time and my best mate, Dean Ryan, played with Na Fianna for years. They were good enough to accommodate me when I was trying to train, while playing with my club at home.

This year I just said, you know what, I couldn’t put two legs in either county again. So I just said I’d commit to my life in Dublin for the next few years…

For me, in sport, this is the toughest thing I’ve had to do. Leaving home is tough. Not a lot of people understand it, you know, where I’m from, west Clare, you’re born into a club, they give you everything and you want to give them everything back.

But I was burning the candle at each end, and I was kind of falling out of love with football for a while. I just wasn’t putting in as much effort because it was so tough to get up and down the road.

You’re not really a part of the slogging. The boys are running in November and very rarely would I get running midweek with them. I just felt that I was detached from the group a little bit. It’s nice to be up here, and you’re part of the group.

At 28-years old, Keelan Sexton may still have time to return to either Kilmurry-Ibrickane or Clare over the coming seasons should he feel the desire to do so.

For now, he seems content to ply his trade in the Dublin senior ranks. The move has certainly worked out pretty well for all involved up to this point.

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