DERRY football fans have left Dublin heartbroken after the county squad's dreams of winning the Sam Maguire Cup for a second time were shattered at Croke Park.
Thousands swamped the city for Saturday's All-Ireland semi-final clash with Galway, with hopes their team could make it to the final for the first time since 1993, when the Oak Leafs went on to defeat Cork.
That '93 victory was the last time Derry featured in an All-Ireland football final at the home of the GAA. Despite fierce support from the crowds at Croke, Derry's dream was snuffed out by the Galway men, who clinched a 2-8 to 1-6 victory.
However, disappointment on the pitch was eclipsed by the enjoyment on the day of the Derry supporters in bringing their team to Croke for the match.
Among the crowds was East Derry Sinn Féin MLA Caoimhe Archibald, who posted a panoramic view of the stadium to Twitter ahead of kick-off, showing the size of the support for the Ulster team.
"Not sure there’s anyone left in the county," she wrote.
Her party colleague and Foyle MLA Pádraig Delargy wished Galway well following their victory, tweeting: "Unfortunately this wasn’t Derry’s day. This has been an incredible year of football and brought so many new fans to the game. Maith sibh to the team - many more years of success lie ahead."
However, there was a row over parking facilities. An evening traffic jam following Saturday's game led to calls by Dublin Green Party councillor Janet Horner for bus lanes to be enforced 24-7, as vehicles in a bus lane - which was not in use at the time - on a road near the stadium led to buses being forced to wait as traffic slowed to a crawl.
"We shouldn’t have traffic jams because people want to drive right up to Croke Park on match days," Ms Horner tweeted.
Solicitor Shauna Carberry posted an image of clamped vehicles illegally parked on a footpath at Gracepark Road close to Croke.
"Families breaking the bank to attend all-Ireland semi final in a cost of living crisis now face this on way home," she wrote, saying adequate parking facilities for Croke were "essential".
A Garda spokesperson said enforcement would continue on match days, adding: "Please be mindful of local residents and avoid parking in residential areas - illegal parking will not be tolerated."
Saturday's match was preceeded at Croke by the stadium's largest ever Eid celebrations. More than 1,000 Muslim worshippers attended.
Chair of the Irish Muslim Council, Shaykh Umar al-Qadri, said being a Muslim in Ireland is "phenomenal", but also spoke out against two arson attacks at Belfast's Multi-Cultural Association centre.
"As you can see, we can celebrate our Irish Muslim identity in the most iconic Irish venue of them all, Croke Park," he said.
"This is our experience in the south. In the north our experience is very negative and very difficult. There are certain regressive elements within these communities that target minorities."
