The most common question being put in my direction since last August is “are you missing it?”

Martin McElhinney says the current Donegal squad is the best he’s been involved in.

There have been plenty of firsts in the GAA this year, plenty of talking points, a fair share of controversies and lots of soul-searching.

Donegal 2-22 Down 1-12

Donegal 2-20 Cavan 1-15

Although some of the fizz has been taken out of the provincial championships since the introduction of the qualifiers back in 2001, there’s a semblance of a climactic feel to Donegal’s preliminary round opener against Cavan in Ballybofey tomorrow.

Negativity, according to new GAA president John Horan, attracts more attention than positivity so it was with extra emphasis that he delivered a plea to Congress delegates on Saturday.

There were fresh-faces aplenty on show at Letterkenny in the respective Donegal and Galway ranks but, in the end, it was left to experience to settle the issue.

One of Donegal’s most stylish and influential players during their golden spell, Karl Lacey’s time on the field has been decimated by injuries in recent years. But he’s still got the desire to recapture that winning feeling, writes Orla Bannon.

Donegal’s Marty O’Reilly insists that qualifying to face Dublin in an Allianz Football League final wouldn’t be viewed as a poisoned chalice.

Your stand-out Neil Gallagher memory? His virtuoso performance against Cork in the 2012 All-Ireland semi-final? Lifting the 2007 Division 1 cup as captain with a black eye due to a cut above it that required suturing, but no substitution? Bare-chested in Ballybofey having had his jersey ripped as he was sent off against Tyrone in 2015?

Keepers’ conundrum

Donegal’s bitter Allianz League clash with Kerry last year was a one-off in terms of their rivalry, according to Paddy McBrearty, who admits he was lucky not to be among those sent off in Tralee.

Those suspicious minds in Kerry smelt something a little off when the venue for this Sunday’s Division 1 round one was fixed a few months back.

Dublin 1-15 Donegal 1-10: Grace under fire wouldn’t be the aptest way to sum up this latest addition to Dublin’s unbeaten league and championship run of 26 matches. In football terms, Donegal were hardly pyromaniacs and as regards discipline Jim Gavin’s side weren’t so poised.

Kerry await on August 28.

Monaghan 1-10 Donegal 1-9: The roar from the Monaghan support following Colin Walshe’s 73rd-minute winner against Donegal in Castleblayney yesterday was so loud it could probably be heard at Austin Stack Park in Tralee.

Kerry and Donegal are expected to contest the proposed €7,500 fines handed down to them following Sunday’s fractious Division 1 game in Tralee.

Kerry and Donegal are braced for the prospect of €5,000 fines and retrospective bans arising from Sunday’s melee-marred Division 1 game in Austin Stack Park.

Kerry 1-13 Donegal 1-8: He said afterwards the win enabled Kerry to look up towards play-off possibilities rather than look down at relegation threats, but Éamonn Fitzmaurice will look ahead with relish to anything the spring and summer can throw at him after this.

Donegal manager Rory Gallagher expressed his annoyance in the dressing room area to referee Eddie Kinsella over his handling of a fractious first 35 minutes in Tralee yesterday.

Big day in Tralee. Big day for the town. Big day for the Kerry hurlers. Just as big for the footballers, says Dara Ó Cinnéide.

Neil McGee believes Donegal have more depth than at any other time in the previous five seasons under Jim McGuinness and Rory Gallagher.

Donegal 1-11 Down 0-11: Frank McGlynn’s goal, after only 68 seconds, fired Donegal to a useful opening-day win over Down, in the Dr McKenna Cup, at Ballybofey.

Naomh Conaill 0-11 St Eunan’s 0-10: Naomh Conaill of Glenties captured a third Donegal SFC title with victory over St Eunan’s of Letterkenny in a peculiar final in Ballybofey yesterday.

Mayo v Donegal

The lack of competitive games this weekend ensured they passed without any major controversy, even as we get close to the summit of the football season.

The Leinster Senior Football procession takes centre-stage this Sunday, with few doubting Dublin’s progress to another final. Kildare stand in their way, while Meath or Westmeath will make up the final pairing.

Some fixtures transcend the importance of the Allianz Football League and Sunday’s clash between Donegal and Tyrone is one such game.

Allianz FL Division 1 (R2): Dublin v Donegal: Those of us who had written Donegal out of the list of championship contenders before a ball was kicked in anger this year might have been premature.

McKenna Cup

Last week, just before he would inspire Austin Stacks to their first county title in 20 years and win the right to captain Kerry in 2015, Kieran Donaghy ran a five-day basketball camp for 150 kids in his hometown of Tralee.

One of the men appearing this week’s “Club or County” viral video claims he has been subjected to constant abuse after the advert’s release.

With the gunsmoke still clearing from the battlefield, Jim McGuinness was trying to puzzle out what had happened and was starting to regret his side’s conservatism.

Jim McGuinness has made two changes to the side that overcame Dublin in the All-Ireland semi-final for tomorrow’s decider at Croke Park.

A few years ago a television advertising campaign proclaimed that this was rugby country. The marketing team that came up with it had obviously never been to Glenties to see the Jim McGuinness effect.

To justly appreciate the phenomenon that has been Jim McGuinness’s tenure with Donegal it would be an idea to ponder this question: in which of his four years in charge do you think he’s done the best coaching job?