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A few weeks ago before the county final between Castlebar Mitchels and Ballintubber I envisaged a predicament that Cillian O’Connor could find himself in. I thought nothing of it at the time because I expected Castlebar to retain the Moclair Cup. O’Connor was at the final stages of the trials for the International Rules team, with his skill set and physical attributes I have no doubt he would have been on Paul Early's panel. When Ballintubber won the county final I immediately thought of O’Connor and the predicament, club versus country? It was simple; he was going nowhere and immediately pulled out of the Irish set up to give his full attention to his club.

The inclusion of Gavin Duffy in the Mayo senior squad certainly got tongues wagging in the county and several people asked about my opinion on the matter. Gavin Duffy played midfield for the Mayo minors in an All-Ireland final in 1999, which is 15 long years ago. My senior inter county career finished the same year, I wonder would James Horan be interested in a fifth choice goalkeeper; you have my number, James. There is certainly no guarantee a good minor will become an integral part of a senior set up and I have watched many brilliant minors fall by the way side and some weren’t even playing club football by the time they were 22, but in Duffy’s case I’m sure he would have made the grade. The fact that he went on to have a very successful professional rugby career with Connacht and Harlequins reassures me that whatever he put his hand to he would have been a success. There are loads of positives to take from his inclusion in the panel. He has been a professional sportsman for the guts of 15 years so the physique, stamina and temperament are already in place. He is a leader and captained Connacht for many years and his inclusion will lift the tempo at Mayo training and push the existing players that bit further.

Tom Nally's Heart of Galway team will contest the All Ireland Senior Inter-firm semi-final on Wednesday evening in Longford.

It’s often said that a week is a long time in politics. Can I suggest then that three weeks is an absolute eternity in football? Just a few short weeks ago, all the talk around these parts was that Galway would be a shoe in to retain their Connacht championship. The fact that they would be playing the Connacht final (assuming it is Mayo) in Pearse Stadium added to that theory because the general perception is that the seaside venue is definitely worth a few scores to the Galway men. But the pendulum has very definitely shifted in the last two matches of the national league. Galway were the form team of the league for the first five rounds, getting standing ovations from their ecstatic home supporters on a number of occasions such was the quality of their play. But after a rather slow start by Mayo in their opening rounds, they have very definitely come thundering into the equation again as serious provincial contenders after their impressive one-point victory over the up to then unbeaten Galwegians in Tuam a couple of weeks ago. Mayo followed up on that victory with a very creditable performance against the All Ireland champions in McHale Park last Sunday, where both sides took a share of the spoils.