ULTAN Kelm could be making a final appearance in Erne Gaels colours for some time on Saturday afternoon – but boss Declan Bonner is just glad to have the Fermanagh flyer at his disposal.
The Belleek club take on Teemore at Páirc na hEirne in the last eight of the county championship, with Kelm lining out alongside brothers Oisin and Aogan in their bid to take another step closer to reaching a third Fermanagh decider in-a-row.
Ultan missed the club’s league campaign to head Down Under in a bid to revive an Aussie Rules dream that looked set to be realised until the intervention of the Covid-19 pandemic, with injury scuppering best laid plans again in 2022.
However, four years on, Kelm is on the brink of a move to Freemantle Dockers in the coming months after impressing in a summer trial. He returned in time to play in the Gaels’ three championship outings so far, and will be keen to make sure he is seen again in black and gold beyond Saturday.
“Ah yeah there was always that [fear he could have missed the championship],” said Bonner.
“But the two brothers are playing, Seamus his father is secretary of the club, so there’s a big Gaels connection. We didn’t have Ultan for any of the league games, he stepped away when Fermanagh were knocked out, he was basically getting himself ready to go down to Freemantle.
“By the time he was back it was basically championship time, but Ultan’s a professional in everything he does so it’s a great opportunity for him. We’re delighted to have him at the minute.”
And, having had his heart set on a switch to Glasgow giants Celtic during his own playing pomp, Bonner understands more than most the pull of the professional arena.
“You cannot stop any young lad that has ambitions to go into professional sport.
“Naturally you’re a Gaelic footballer and that’s what you do, but if there’s another sport out there where you can have your life as a professional sportsperson, it’s a massive opportunity.
“I would never hold any young lad back from that… it had cooled off the last number of seasons but it seems to have started up again to some degree.”
For now, though, both Bonner and Kelm are fully focused on the job at hand – and what better send off than to end a 43-year wait for the New York Cup?
In order to give themselves any chance of making it third time lucky, however, the Gaels must first get past Teemore. Working outside of his native Tir Chonaill for the first time, it is all still relatively new to Bonner.
After finishing up with Donegal in 2022, having led Donegal to three Ulster titles and been involved for a decade between minor, U21 and senior, his intention was to take a break for a year or two.
“Play a bit more golf, see a bit of the world…”
But fate decreed otherwise. Chairman of his own club, Na Fianna, for a decade, Bonner was unable to find a new manager – so ended up taking on the role himself, on the proviso it was for just one year.
They ended up winning the junior championship and going into Ulster. Then, before he had the chance to put his feet up, a cohort from Erne Gaels came calling, eventually convincing Bonner to step out of his comfort zone.
“I said no initially, they came back, then I was talking to Ryan Lyons, Ultan Kelm, and thought it’s out of the county, why not?”
Alongside him on the line is Paul Brennan, a stalwart from his Donegal days who lives in the Leitrim village of Kinlough, just a 15 minute scoot across the border to Belleek. And it is a case of so far, so good.
“You just don’t dive in, you look and see what the club’s about, what their ambitions are, what the group of players is like… I probably made eight or nine different phone calls to people, not just in Fermanagh but surrounding areas to see what the boys were about. And then you make your decision based on that.
“It appealed to me going in somewhere different, to be honest, and just stepping out of Donegal football for a while. I must say I’m really enjoying it, and we’re into the business end of it now.
“I said at the very start there’s no guarantee that they’ll get over the line this year, but we’re hoping we can put the best practices in place to give them every opportunity and that’s all you can do.”
