Glory days approaching for Mayo

THREE years ago, after Kerry had given Mayo a terrible drubbing for the second time in three years, I was speaking at a function up in Mayo.

At the end there was a Q&A during which a young lad of no more than 14 or 15 asked me the following question, “Sir, will I ever see Mayo winning an All-Ireland during my lifetime?”.

Coming from such a young man it was a surprisingly pessimistic question but it reflected the depression that befell the county in the aftermath of an All-Ireland final drubbing. “You will,” I replied. “Mayo will win the All-Ireland in 2011.”