McGill: Promotion perfect springboard to summer

Paul Keane When Meath finally gained promotion to Division 1 by beating Fermanagh last month, veteran defender Mickey Burke admitted it was ‘almost more important than the Championship’.

When Meath finally gained promotion to Division 1 by beating Fermanagh last month, veteran defender Mickey Burke admitted it was ‘almost more important than the Championship’.

It wasn’t the sort of statement you’d have heard from a Meath player in 2004 when Burke made his debut, three years after the county had contested the All-Ireland final, but these are changed times.