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Jetting Off

Dublin confirm that Jack McCaffrey will miss championship as he heads to Africa

The 2015 Footballer of the Year is going travelling as part of his medical studies in UCD.

DUBLIN MANAGER JIM Gavin has tonight confirmed that 2015 Footballer of the Year Jack McCaffrey is heading to Africa this summer as part of his medical studies in UCD and he is not part of their plans for the championship.

The news, which was broken by The Herald newspaper on Thursday, was confirmed by Gavin when speaking to Setanta Sports after tonight’s victory over Cork in Croke Park.

The Dublin boss has wished McCaffrey well and insists the door is always open for the Clontarf club man to return.

It’s the second high-profile player that Gavin has to plan without for the 2016 championship as Rory O’Carroll is heading to New Zealand.

“At the moment, Jack won’t be with us for the championship. He’s a fourth year medical student in UCD.

“Jack will be heading off to Africa to get some volunteer work in a hospital there for the summer and then doing some travelling afterwards.

Jim Gavin Dubln manager Jim Gavin Ryan Byrne / INPHO Ryan Byrne / INPHO / INPHO

“We’ve known this for some time, we’ve given Jack time to reflect on it. He’s part of the big Dublin GAA family.

He knows that we’re there for him whenever he wants to return back to play with the county and he’ll always be welcome back.”

Gavin revealed that McCaffrey, who recently captained UCD to win the Sigerson Cup, had been considering the move for some time.

Jack McCaffrey celebrates with the Sigerson Cup Jack McCaffrey celebrating UCD's recent Sigerson Cup triumph. Presseye / Declan Roughan/INPHO Presseye / Declan Roughan/INPHO / Declan Roughan/INPHO

“A few weeks back, he just let us know that that was in his thoughts and that’s something he wants to do. We’ve always espoused them to get the balance in their life and the choices that they make will really define them.

“He’s 23 years of age, he’s got his life ahead of him. We’d like to have Jack around but my concentration now is the players that I have and trying to get a performance against Down next week.

I’ve worked with Jack since 21′s, so we know each other very well. I understand the type of man that he is.

“He put a lot of consideration into his decision. We fully respect that and fully support him.”

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