Derry City’s chief executive Sean Barrett said Lynch had quickly emerged as the club’s “number one target” following Higgins’ exit.
“I made a call to Kenny Bruce [Larne owner] to see if there was any chance of speaking to Tiernan. He laughed and said ‘you know what? I was waiting on this call’,” said the Candystripes CEO
“It’s fabulous for the club and the city. The ambitions that we have completely fulfil his ambitions so I think it’s a great match for the club.”
Barrett added that in addition to Lynch’s achievements at Larne which included successive Irish Premiership titles over the past two seasons, he had been hugely impressed by the manager’s work in establishing “state of the art” training facilities at the Inver Park club.
“The energy, drive and ambition that man has. Once I sat down and talked to him…..within minutes [I knew he was the right man]…..the presentation was incredibly professional.
“Everything about that man oozed professionalism and it’s exactly what we need at this club,” added Barrett, who was also careful to pay tribute to the contribution Higgins made to Derry City.
Barrett added that the Derry board had “backed Ruaidhri Higgins financially and we will back this man”.
“Our endeavour is to get better facilities, win league titles and compete at the group stages in Europe,” said the Candystripes chief executive.