Dublin manager Jim Gavin confirmed on Saturday night following his side's win over Cork that Footballer of the Year Jack McCaffrey would be unavailable to the All-Ireland champions for the rest of 2016.

McCaffrey, a medical student in UCD, intends to travel to Africa to work in a hospital in the coming months and the news comes just two months after McCaffrey's fellow Dublin All Star defender Rory O'Carroll announced he was unavailable to Dublin for the foreseeable future due to his plans to move to New Zealand.

"Jack has a desire to do some volunteer work in a hospital in Africa over the summer," Gavin said after Dublin's 2-14 to 2-10 win. "We've known about this for some time and we were giving him space to reflect on it and to consult those people that are close to him.

"With a player of his quality you'd definitely like to be looking at him rather than for him. We'd like to have Jack around this season but we fully understand and empathise with his decision and we fully support him.

"He won't be playing with us for the National League or Championship this year and my concentration and focus is on the players who I have and who have engaged with our plan for 2016."

Even though Dublin are probably the best equipped side in the country to cope with the loss of flying wing back McCaffrey, his departure is a huge blow for the All-Ireland champions. The 22-year-old was outstanding when Dublin won the All-Ireland title in 2015, and was a runaway winner of the Footballer of the Year award, underlining his credentials as the best young footballer in the country.

McCaffrey was available to Dublin in the early rounds of the Allianz League this year, and he played a starring role last month as UCD ended a 20-year wait for the Sigerson Cup title. However, he revealed his plans to travel abroad to Gavin recently, and the manager acknowledged that he actively encouraged his players to make important choices regarding their professional careers, regardless of football.

“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," said Gavin.

“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."

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