John Heslin has cited work and travel commitments as the reason behind his retirement from Westmeath duty.

The St Loman’s clubman’s job as a global strategic marketing manager with MSD Animal Health requires a huge amount of travel, meaning it was no longer feasible for him to play inter-county football.

"I've been playing quite a while now and life moves on. With my job I have a global role; I do a lot of travelling. For the last two years I've had to combine the job, the travelling and playing inter-county football,” Heslin told RTÉ Radio 1’s Sunday Sport.

"For the next six months, I'm going to be in Brazil, New Zealand and the US. I also went back to college, back to UCD, undertaking a part-time Masters with Smurfit. I'm also fitting a bit of farming in and I'm getting married this year.”

He added: "I would be putting unrealistic expectations on myself to reach the professional level that is now required. The preparation involved in getting the body right is so different from when I started. It's a lifestyle now. You're an inter-county player every day of the week.

"Last year, I flew into Dublin Airport at 5am on the day that Westmeath played in a league final against Down. The game was fixed for 7pm.

"That is not professional or elite. I might have got away with it 10 years ago, but not really now."

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