After the turkey and ham have been eaten, box of Roses cleaned out and more dessert than you would ever dare to consume in a normal week, its back to porridge and the promises of self-discipline from here on.
What will 2022 bring?
Almost two years into a pandemic, 2020 and 2021 were two years dominated by lockdown and precautions.
The GAA has been our saviour in many ways, both at club and inter-county level.
The Omicron variant may be more transmissible and while the levels of infection rates are rising rapidly, from what I have read, the virus potency appears to be not as severe as the Delta variant.
However it looks likely that 2022 will again be approached with caution and a slow return to a 'new' normal.
With the club championship nearing a finale in Ulster, Kilcoo and Derrygonnellyare deserving finalists.
Kilcoo have played very well and given that they have the experience of winning an Ulster Championship before, they have to be slight favourites.
I would not be surprised to see The Magpies reach the All Ireland Club decider.
At inter-county level, Tyrone will look to show the country that the 2021 season wasn't a 'one-off'.
For themselves it will be important.
I actually do think that the Red Hands can get better and winning an All-Ireland will make them a few inches taller.
Dublin won't allow us to forget their existence and with Jack O'Connor back in the Kingdom, a more ruthless Kerry will add spice to the 2022 season.
Things I would like to see in 2022 would be best summarised as follows;
Changing Rooms
It makes no sense that you cannot use changing rooms in the current environment.
It is not as bad in the summer when you can arrive changed at a game, however in the Autumnal and Winter months, to be asked to stand in deteriorating weather at half-time and not be able to avail of a shower after a game is bordering on the ridiculous at this stage.
Omicron or not, common sense needs to prevail here.
Despite the increased transmissibility of the new variant I hope the GAA don't continue to enforce this rather farcical attempt to appear compliant with set rules without using common sense.
Increased Capacity Crowds
The increased restrictions imposed by the Irish Government to maximise capacities at 5,000 in outdoor spaces is again disappointing.
I know that this will be reviewed on January 31st but I do not have much faith in the ability of the Government to be flexible.
National League games are a vital source of income for county boards and with some tasty fixtures coming up, you could argue that the reduced capacity will again have a significant detrimental impact on GAA income.
A lot of fans live for the inter-county game so allow them attend outdoor games.
Preventing supporters entering safe spaces outside, with mandatory mask wearing again goes back to the very fabric of adopting to live alongside this disease – this being using your common sense.
Proposal 'B'
2021 Congress may have been disappointing for many Gaels.
Failing to make the 'quota', the proposal to restructure the championship did not get the 'green' light.
Thankfully, I personally never wanted to see it succeed.
To bin the Provincial Championship, this fundamentally relegated the Ulster Championship to a pre-season competition.
How can it be so important currently, have such historical significance and then with the stroke of a pen be no longer relevant?
The winners, nor the finalists received any incentive for progress in the competition.
Larry McCarthy has promised to come back with a compromise that will give the Provincial competition more respect.
Sean Kelly, the former GAA president is involved and this can only be good.
I do think that in special congress in 2022, a re-structured proposal will pass – the appetite for change is clearly there, so early indicators on how or what a revamped championship will look like is again positive.
This is change for the better – not for the sake of it.
Rule Changes
A couple of things need to go – banished to the bin and never seen again.
The forward 'mark'.
The fact that it is still around is again in the 'farcical' bracket.
I hate this rule and recently witnessed footage of a referee being jostled and harassed as he made his way from the field for making a mistake on this very rule.
The GAA have created this stick for themselves and the sooner the rule goes the better.
Water breaks
Again, I lack understanding perhaps as to why it needed to come in initially.
But was it a case of looking across at the Premier League in England or sports elsewhere?
It needs to go now, it no longer makes much sense.
Take your own bottle to hydrate and a break in play for an injury is suffice to allow players to re-fuel.
Half-time Managers interview
I am old enough to remember the half-time interview in All-Ireland finals and other big GAA Matches.
During the festive period I actually came across 'wee' Eamon Coleman being interviewed at half-time during the All-Ireland final in 1993.
Coleman, pulled no punches 'Calahane should have gone first, he struck first, when you strack (Derry accent) in this game, it says you must go'.
With that devil of a smile Coleman walks down the tunnel in Croke Park to his troops to prepare them for the second half.
It was classic Eamon Coleman and it was a time when media and players and managers had a respect for each other.
Everything nowadays is much more clinical and cloak and dagger.
Press conferences and bland clichés are churned out now with washed interviews.
Although he lost his job in disappointing circumstances in 2021, some of the post-match comments Kerry's Peter Keane embarked on in 2021 is embarrassing in hindsight.
Handing any team a hiding isn't something to apologise for, nor is it something you can try and promote as a 'close contest right to the end'.
I would love to see more personality in interviews in 2022, more Eamon Colemans.
So a New Year, a new beginning, perhaps in 2022 we will see the return of some scarcely common common sense and with this in mind, I want to wish you all a Happy and prosperous 2022.