Micko in his own words: 'I’ve no more to do. I did it all'

On having to beat Dublin in 1978 after the ’76 and ’77 defeats: “We had to do something about it that day. If we lost to Dublin again, we'd never be let back into Kerry.” 

On his great rival Kevin Heffernan: "Well, we weren't friends at all. After games, we'd just go our separate ways. Might have shaken hands once. Only when it was all over and done with, I met him several times and it was much easier then.” 

On Seamus Darby’s 1982 five-in-a-row halting goal: “I felt sick. For two months after I never left Waterville. At least once a week it's still being planted in my mind."

On 1982 again: “We were in a commanding position with four points up in that second half well in control. We had done it all before, three in a row, four in a row and now five in a row, never done before. To cap it all [John] Egan was captain, and no other player deserved it more to lift the Sam Maguire.” 

On the three-in-a-row (1984-86): “We made a decision, we all got together in September of ‘83 and we made up our mind that we were going to have one go for the Centenary Year (1984) and we won the league and we won the championship in ’84, and when we won that one I suppose it was a case of well, we’ll continue until we’re defeated anyway.” 

On the controversial Adidas deal: “Any sponsorship that was coming in had to go through Croke Park. We made a decision that it was about time for the players to get a little bit out of it.” 

On staying with Kerry until 1989: “I should have left at the end of 1987. The spell had been broken.” 

On falling out with Páidí Ó Sé: “We were exceptionally close until we decided to drop him one day. That was the end of our friendship for about two years.” 

On Ó Sé’s animals remark about Kerry supporters: “Páidí Ó Sé was correct in South Africa that time with Marty Morrissey about the Kerry supporters, even though I would have worded it differently. (We were) chalk and cheese but we both had the good of Kerry football at heart. Páidí was a true Kerry warrior.” 

On driving: “Travel was never a problem for me. I loved driving and it was no bother for me to sit into the car in Waterville and head for Kildare or Wicklow day or night travelling on my own. Most people would not like being in a car driving for five or six hours non-stop on their own. I loved being on my own. It was the only time I had the freedom to think things out. A lot goes through your mind on a journey of six hours without interruptions.” 

On David Clifford (pre-rule changes): “I pity him, a great scorer, but if the team doesn’t get the ball in quickly to that area, he has no chance of controlling the end result. He must be frustrated.” 

On Kildare: "Six weeks before I took them over, they lost an O'Byrne Cup game to Kilkenny. I took them into the Curragh and ran the life out of them! They couldn't understand what was going on at all. There was three of them who'd hide in the woods, then join in at the finish.” 

On winning provincial titles with Kildare and Laois in 1998 and ’03: "I got huge satisfaction from winning Leinster with Kildare and Laois. It meant so much to the people in those counties. It's easy for counties who win All-Irelands fairly regularly to lose sight of what a provincial win means to other counties.” 

On retiring from inter-county management after Clare in 2013: "My days of rolling up the match programme tightly in my hand in the dressing room and heading out to patrol the sidelines are over. I'd be happy to give a bit of advice from time to time if anyone wants it, but I won't be managing again. That's behind me now.” 

On getting rid of the pick-up: “Is there a skill in going down to pick it up? I don't think there is. You have a lot of melees, especially in underage football. I don't see much skill about it, to be honest, and I have been watching the ladies football and I think it is a marvellous success. It speeds up the game."

On politics: "[Charlie] Haughey nearly hooked me [to Fianna Fáil]. I often marked Charlie's brother Pádraig, or Jock as he was known, and that's how I got to know the Haugheys. In 1982, Charlie sent two ministers down to Coláiste Íosagáin in Ballyvourney where my sons were at school. Brian Lenihan Snr was there and they put massive pressure on me.” 

On rural life: "The community scene [in Waterville] is gone. People hardly know their next door neighbour now. I remember when I was young, each night you'd ramble around to every house in the village and all the doors would be open. All that's gone now, it's sad."

On old age: “I was an awful man for roaring and shouting and encouraging players on the pitch. It’s the one thing that affects me quite a bit. It (his voice) comes and goes, some days I can’t speak at all, at all. It’s a curse, old age. I always say that youth is wasted on the young. That’s the way in life, we all came in the same way and guaranteed we’ll all go out the same way.” 

On legacy: “I’ve no more to do. I did it all.”