John O'Mahony has confirmed that he will be staying on as manager of All-Ireland football champions Galway. The news, although expected, will come as a relief to the county which has enjoyed great success since the Ballaghaderreen man took charge four years ago.

"I took the decision last night (Sunday) after meeting Pat Egan (Galway Football Board)," said O'Mahony. "There were a few things to straighten out but now everything is settled and I will have the same backroom team with me."

Stephen Joyce and Pete Warren continue as selectors while Gay McManus will continue to take charge of any Dublin-based players.

As a unit, they have been involved in two All-Ireland title wins - this year and 1998 - as well as a drawn final last year when Galway lost to Kerry. During an at times fraught summer, over which the county became the first to win an All-Ireland under the qualifier format - having lost to Roscommon in Connacht - it was speculated that O'Mahony would call it a day regardless of how Galway ultimately did.

After winning the 1998 All-Ireland, the team endured a disappointing year culminating in losing the Connacht title to Mayo. In the light of that experience, it was felt that the manager might be especially inclined to get out if a second All-Ireland was won.

"During the year," according to O'Mahony, "I was thinking that in all the previous manager's jobs that I'd had, I'd done it for four years. It's nice to get out at the top but difficult to go away just after winning an All-Ireland.

"When everyone else agreed, I decided to carry on. It's easy to walk away but the challenge is there because no team has retained an All-Ireland for 11 years. Meath, Kerry and ourselves have all tried but with no success. Even Down earlier weren't able to do it. That's the challenge for everyone involved."

O'Mahony denied that he had received any commitments from players before arriving at his decision. "I wouldn't have pressurised any of the players - the veterans' wishes need to be respected. Obviously, I'd be hoping that they'll come back."

The players concerned are Kevin Walsh and Tomβs Mannion, both survivors of the 1986 All-Ireland winning minor team and both of whom have struggled with injuries in recent years. Walsh was extremely influential this year and is a certain All Star, whereas Mannion, who recovered from a disastrous outing against Roscommon in June, is in with a good chance of the same award.

Mannion has been suffering from a recurrence of an old back injury but isn't thought to be seriously injured. An additional benefit to Galway of the new arrangements in football is the switch of the National League to a calendar-year basis.

"This has been an advantage," said O'Mahony. "If we had to go out and play National League games just weeks after the All-Ireland it would have made things more difficult for the management. The club championships have been going ahead but we weren't directly involved."

Galway won't return to training until the end of January after the team holiday to Thailand. The league will start in early February.

Meanwhile, after the weekend's matches Carlow and Laois have qualified for the semi-finals of the O'Byrne Cup. Both won their respective groups. The third group winners will be decided this Sunday when Dublin and Louth meet at Parnell Park. Anything better than a three-point defeat will see Louth through.

The final semi-final place rests between Offaly and Wicklow who were runners-up in Groups I and II. The semi-finals and final will be played in January 2002.