A football education

Down’s innate sense of their own worth comes from schools success – and nowhere is more pronounced than in St Colman’s in Newry. Brendan O’Brien paid a visit to the home of the All-Ireland SFC colleges champions

BUDDY HOLLY used to sing about how it was raining in his heart even though the sun was out and the sky was blue. Turn that sentiment inside out and you begin to get an idea of this morning’s mood on Newry’s Violet Hill.

Last Monday dawned cold and miserable. All but the lower reaches of the Mourne Mountains were smothered in a fog of grey clouds and yet the only thing blue about St Colman’s College were the school’s distinctive colours.