Soak it up, this may never happen again

THE Milner household in Ballinacarriga is quiet. Situated idyllically, there is a clichéd yet reassuring serenity in the Girlough townland. But Michael Milner is doing his best to disrupt all that.

It’s just past 8am and the Dunmanway Town centre forward is having a Thursday morning like no other. Busily loading his gearbag and barely touching the breakfast parents Jerry and Colette have rustled up for us, he’s a hard chap to keep still for more than half a minute.

The presence of the intrusive photographer capturing his frenzied text messaging and the reporter interrupting his all-too rushed eating is just an early precursor to what he knows will be a unique day; Milner is content to take it in his stride.