THE sun does wonders for the soul. There was an unmistakable feel of summer in the air at Antrim’s press night at O’Donnell’s GAC on Monday night.
O’Donnell’s chairman and Antrim backroom team member Pat Hughes is director of operations and assisting on the training field.
Pat’s a wise owl.
His charm offensive starts by pointing the few press reporters in the direction of the tea and sandwiches in the clubhouse.
There is one axiom in this profession: the media will always be won over by a fine spread.
Monday night’s offering didn’t disappoint us.
The Antrim players arrive in dribs and drabs.
Scores of kids buzz from one Antrim player to another for autographs and pictures.
County PRO Sean Kelly has a spring in his step.
Arms folded, Frank Fitzsimons looks the most relaxed man in Ireland, never mind in MacRory Park.
And there’s Gearoid Adams and Joe Quinn chatting in the middle of the pitch.
You know you’re getting old when you were around for the start of their playing careers with Antrim.
Now they’re part of the county management team.
The years have been reasonably kind to these two men.
Gearoid looks as though he could still make a few lung-bursting runs up the right flank and big Joe looks like a man who could still fetch a few high balls in the middle of the field.
I’ve been reporting on my native county for 17 insufferable years. There have been more bad times than good.
During that time negative headlines have followed Antrim GAA around like a bad smell.
But, despite all the negativity and strife, the county footballers and hurlers have always been the easiest people to deal with.
Monday night was no different.
I interviewed some of the new generation – Marty Johnston, Patrick McBride and Matthew Fitzpatrick ahead of Sunday’s Ulster SFC showdown with Fermanagh and there wasn’t a trace of an ego between them.
If there was an unmistakable feeling of summer about the night, there was also a palpable sense of confidence about this group of Antrim players.
And yet, less than a mile up the road Casement Park is a hopeless wasteland rendering Antrim Championship nomads for the foreseeable future.
Up in Antrim town, the Dunsilly project – the county’s much anticipated centre of excellence – has had its fair share of delays and setbacks over the years.
And, for a number of reasons, the fundraising culture in the county isn’t strong.
The new county board is trying to change things and trying to tap into the corporate sector.
A couple of months ago, new county chairman Collie Donnelly commented: “Someone said to me: ‘With respect, we’ve spent our time with Chippies and Chinese takeaways’ – and I don’t mean that in a bad way because a lot of them have been very good to Antrim over time. We want to establish more links with the corporate sector.”
Last year, St Gall’s player Mickey Pollock quit the panel in frustration after Antrim exited the All-Ireland series.
His decision to walk away, it must be acknowledged, was made prior to ‘Saffron Vision’ winning the vast majority of county executive posts in November.
Speaking at pitch-side at Brewster Park last July, Pollock said: “A lot of the best players weren’t playing for Antrim today and it’s very difficult to take. It doesn’t happen in Tyrone, Armagh or Donegal. The best players are always out on the field for them.”
Fast-forward 10 months and optimism is bursting out the Antrim camp.
For this, Frank Fitzsimons deserves the baulk of the credit.
He appointed Gearoid Adams as joint-manager in the close season. Joint-managers don’t always work.
I recall one Ulster county manager who was asked to take on a co-manager.
“I’d rather cut my grass on a Sunday afternoon than be a co-manager,” he said.
Despite the reservations, the joint-manager model is working for both Fitzsimons and Adams.
Brain Neeson, Kevin Niblock, Kevin O’Boyle Ricky and Martin Johnston were among those who opted out of the panel last year.
The new joint-management team persuaded them all to return. Justin Crozier was persuaded to stay on this year too while Tomas and Michael McCann are back after cutting their respective seasons short in 2015.
So, for the first time in a long time, Antrim have their best players available.
The squad is loving Brian Magee’s new training regime. The new county board and management team are on the same page.
And there’s nobody ringing The Irish News offices these days about the latest faux pas in the county. With just two days to they enter the Championship, the Antrim footballers couldn’t be in better shape.
And that’s not a sentence I’ve written an awful lot over the last 17 years.
