Paul Durcan may have played final game for Donegal

Donegal goalkeeper Paul Durcan has given the biggest indication yet he may have played his last game for the county. Fresh from winning a Dublin senior title with Ballyboden St Enda’s on Sunday, the All Star nominee is in the process of moving to Qatar with his wife Edel who has secured a job there as a teacher.

Durcan, 31, is a qualified quantity surveyor and has been travelling to the Middle East country in recent weeks for job interviews.

Asked if there were doubts about his inter-county future, he admitted: “I’m 14 years nearly with Donegal. It’s time to make a bit of money as the man says. It’s not paying the bills, unfortunately, so we’ll see what happens.”

Durcan is following in the footsteps of his former team-mate Ryan Bradley, who emigrated to Doha, Qatar’s capital. He hasn’t ruled out coming to some arrangement with manager Rory Gallagher but it’s unlikely he will be in a position to play.

“I’ll be chatting to Rory next year and I’ll see what the craic is,” he said before adding “I love playing for Donegal. It would be tough if I do leave it behind. ”

Durcan missed Ballyboden’s semi-final win over Clontarf as he had organised a pre-planned holiday to Sri Lanka. He returned to Dublin on Friday before lining out against St Vincent’s.

“There was no chance,” he said of lining out against Clontarf. “It was three weeks in a row (games with Ballyboden). I’m trying to get set up over there and doing interviews and all the rest of it. I was doing a bit of work too. It was too much. It suited me.”

Manager Andy McEntee has been happy to accommodate Durcan’s unique situation. “The boys have been so accepting of me, first year, very lucky to be there with them.

"It was a great experience, they’re a good bunch of lads so I enjoyed it. My cousin plays for them, Robbie McDaid. He had a great game when he came on..”

He finds it hard to compare it to his native Four Masters’ Donegal championship victory in 2003. “It’s different. I won a championship with my own club, it’s tough, they’re playing away there at the moment.

"It is tough to play with a club in the same country. It was logistics for me, it was too much travelling. I enjoyed the time (at Ballyboden).

"Unfortunately I didn’t get a lot of time with the boys. Just the games and the odd training here and there. It was a good experience and in fairness to Andy he’s been very accommodating with myself.”

As for the differences between Donegal and Dublin club football? “It’s different, the ball goes in earlier and there is more kicking from what I’d be used to.”