I may have been to three Olympic Games and two world cups, but until last Sunday I’d never been to a national football league division four match.

As I sat shivering in the stand in Carrick-on-Shannon, I remembered the infamous Bobby Ewing shower scene in Dallas. Had the past two years been some sort of a mad dream?

The return of unrestricted crowd numbers to GAA matches last weekend was another landmark social occasion dragging us out of 24 months of eeriness and sadness.

And you do almost have to pinch yourself. Is this actually happening? Can we sit this close, shake hands, remove masks, cheer?

I headed off alone from Dublin to Carrick-on-Shannon last Sunday morning for the clash of Leitrim and Cavan in Division 4 on the opening weekend of the 2022 national league.

I listened to various poignant interviews on the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday

As I drove along a road I used to drive every Sunday for a few years when I worked in Shannonside Radio in Longford back in the 1990s, I listened to various poignant interviews on the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday.

Miriam O’Callaghan devoted her whole programme to the anniversary and it was breathtaking even five decades on listening to eye witness accounts from that faithful day.

It brought me back to the many Sundays like this when I would sit in the back of the car to travel around the country with my father and others to cheer on Cavan, many of those journeys across the border during the troubles. There was always a sense of anxiety at those army checkpoints.

Arriving good and early has great advantages in terms of getting a good seat. The downside, of course, is trying to stay warm

On reaching Páirc Seán Mac Diarmada, I hooked up with a couple of buddies.

Arriving good and early has great advantages in terms of getting a good seat. The downside, of course, is trying to stay warm.

As the countdown to throw-in neared, the stand quickly filled for this local derby which hadn’t happened since I was driving to Shannonside back in the last century! As I looked around, I spotted many familiar faces and thought to myself that we should set up a group and call it the “not fair-weather supporters club”.

My heart went out to the players on the field

Last Sunday was arguably one of the worst days weather wise to be outside at anything, let alone sitting in a cold stand watching a football match.

My heart went out to the players on the field. In the end Cavan won, but there was barely a cheer at full time, more relief that we could climb back into our warm cars. I was near Edgeworthstown by the time I could feel my toes again. Listening to the radio brought me back to those days of listening to the late Jimmy Magee reading out all the results of the day “for those of you getting into your car”.

If Division 1 was a horse race, the handicapper would be getting a clap on the back as all three games on Sunday ended in a draw.

Getting out and about again has made us appreciate the simpler things in life. And last Sunday’s trip to the unglamorous occasion that was the opening day of the national football league Division 4 campaign, was as satisfying as any of those big Olympic or world cup occasions as it represented hopefully the end of two terrible years.

Can’t catch a break

Poor Simon Coveney can’t seem to catch a break. Following Zapponegate and Champagnegate, last weekend when he had good news to share for a change regarding businessman Richard O’Halloran’s repatriation from China, he was criticised for thanking China in the process. Then the fishermen claimed it was them who scared the Russians away rather than any diplomacy from the Minister!