Stephen O'Donnell says he repaid the loyalty of St Patrick's Athletic by giving his all and delivering success during his time in charge, and stressed that he can 'sleep easy at night' about his contentious departure for Dundalk.

O'Donnell's dramatic exit after FAI Cup final success caused anger at Inchicore and St Patrick's Athletic have yet to make an official statement on his decision to leave.

His contract remains the source of a dispute and the Saints are expected to press for compensation but O'Donnell felt there was no obstacle to resigning and taking up the opportunity in Louth.

It's a move that has attracted criticism and controversy and while the 35-year-old said today that he can understand the anger of Saints supporters, he asserted that he did everything he could for the club while employed there.

"I will be forever grateful, I was young and just finished playing and getting an opportunity," said O'Donnell, with respect to his appointment in 2019.

"But ultimately I feel I have repaid that in regards to St Patrick's Athletic. They are in Europe and have come second and won the cup for the fourth time in their history.

"The effort and my work ethic when I was at the football club can't be argued against. I gave everything I possibly could to the football club while I was there.

"I think loyalty is what you put in when you are somewhere. What we put in when we were with St Patrick's Athletic was 120 per cent effort 24/7 since we went in there.

"We couldn't have given any more and I think we repaid that. I'm very thankful to the owner and the club for giving me my first opportunity in coaching but I think we have definitely repaid that in our league position and our achievements of winning the cup.

"That is where I would be on that. It was just I had a choice to make and I have chosen this path and I'm delighted with my decision and it's a really exciting time for Dundalk.

"I understand there will be disappointment, but just as long as everyone does know that we couldn't have given any more to the job with everyone involved on the coaching staff and players to getting St Patrick's Athletic back competitive.

"Football is football and it happens. There will be people disappointed but so long as they have no doubt about the effort given while we were there.

"I'm not on social media and that but I understand the disappointment on their side of it. Look, I can sleep easy at night in regards to everything I have done has been with absolute integrity and I couldn't have done any more, or Patrick (Cregg - his assistant), effort wise in regards to what we gave to St Patrick's Athletic.

"I understand emotions, I understand the way it was maybe depicted but I have absolutely no qualms. I couldn't have done any more when I was in the position as coach of St Patrick's Athletic to try and make them successful.

"The remit when we came in was to make St Pat's competitive again and we couldn't have given any more of ourselves to do that.

"We have achieved that and the club is in a really good place now. I just felt this opportunity and the connection and attachment to Dundalk was too big an opportunity and too good an opportunity for me to turn down. That is ultimately the bottom line."

O'Donnell admitted that he didn't get the opportunity to speak to the Saints squad as the drama played itself out in the aftermath of the cup final success and acknowledged it had been an eventful period in his life.

"There was no possible way to tell them all. Obviously they have seen it in the media. Over the course of the time I’ll be speaking to each and every one just in terms of wishing them all the best etc.," he said.

"Obviously it (cup final) was such a special day, it was a hugely emotional day for a lot of people and it was a special day for myself, the staff and the group of players and for the club. It was just after that.

"I am very much a person that goes with my instinct, goes with my gut, and in the days after that I had to have a real sit-down and a real think and I just felt obviously with my connection with the club, to Dundalk, having experienced such great times there, I just had to go with what my instinct was telling me.

"That’s the decision I made and, as you said, a really, really difficult decision."

"It’s totally understandable the disappointment from the St Patrick’s Athletic standpoint," continued O'Donnell, elaborating on the emotional rollercoaster.

"It wasn’t an easy decision for me by any stretch of the imagination. It was obviously very stressful I would say but that is life, that is football, that's the industry. No way has it been easy at all but I'm just looking forward to the future now and getting cracking with Dundalk.

"Obviously we have a roster to fill, a squad to fill in a short space of time. My aim is to get good people in the building right throughout the club, playing staff and backroom staff and then taking it from there.

“The aim will be similar to when I went to St Patrick’s, getting a team that the supporters know for sure that when they turn up to Oriel every week and travel away to support us that they’re getting a group of people that are working tirelessly to make Dundalk be successful.

"It’s the start of a journey, there are going to be bumps along the way, but I think it’s a very exciting one."