Larne manager Tiernan Lynch will leave the back-to-back Irish Premiership champions and sign a three-year deal to take over at Derry City.
The 44-year-old, whose final game in charge of the Inver outfit will be their BetMcLean League Cup tie against Institute at Derry’s Brandywell Stadium on Tuesday, will replace Ruaidhri Higgins as Candystripes boss.
Higgins left his post as manager by mutual consent after three years at the helm following Derry’s shock 2-0 FAI Cup final defeat to Drogheda.
Lynch’s older brother Seamus, who was his assistant at Larne, is also making the move to the League of Ireland side, while Gary Haveron and Andrew Mitchell will take temporary charge at Inver Park.
Lynch took over as Larne manager in 2017 and led them from the second-tier Championship to back-to-back top flight titles.
He also guided them into the Uefa Conference League phase this season as Larne became the first Northern Irish side to qualify for the group or league phase of a major European competition.
Larne majority shareholder Kenny Bruce said the Lynch brothers helped create the “foundation of all” the club’s recent successes.
“Their names will go down in the record books of not only Larne Football Club, but Irish League football as a whole, for all that they have done,” he said.
“They have both worked tirelessly for the club and that hard work has borne much fruit and achieved some incredible feats.
“They have played a major part in building the club from the first team right through to the Academy.
“Both of them have also created a hugely important culture, which has been the foundation of all we’ve been able to do.”
Lynch previously rejected the chance to take over at Scottish Premiership club St Johnstone in September. He will leave Larne sitting ninth in the Irish Premiership table after a stuttering start to their title defence.
The Inver outfit are 14 points behind pacesetters Linfield with three games in hand after a 1-0 home defeat against the Blues at the weekend.
“I’ve to worry about getting this performance put right. That’s the only thing I’ll think about at this stage,” said Lynch after that reverse.
He will now be tasked with overseeing a rebuild at Derry following a disappointing fourth place finish in the Premier Division last season.
The Candystripes were locked in a title race with eventual champions Shelbourne for much of the season but that league finish – coupled with the cup final defeat – means Derry will not play European football next season.
They have also lost brothers Shane and captain Patrick McEleney to Glentoran and Ballymena United respectively as well as Colm Whelan to Bohemians following the expiration of their contracts.
The Brandywell outfit’s chief executive officer Sean Barrett said the club were impressed by Lynch’s “vision and energy to take” the club forward.
“He has overseen a massive development programme at Larne over the past few seasons and we are delighted that he was very keen to come to the Brandywell,” added Barrett.
“There is a lot of work to do over the coming weeks in preparation for next season and we are very much looking forward to starting work with Tiernan later this week.”