It’s not a bad week, not least because of the weather, to swap one island at the periphery of Europe for another one located more than 1,000 miles – or three and a half hours of flying time – south of where I normally reside. The change in temperature, from sub-zero conditions in Dublin as I made my way in the pre-dawn gloom to the airport, to a very pleasant twenty degrees Celsius or so down here in Malta, was more than a little welcome.

It’s a pity it’s only for a couple of days, even more so that the reason for coming here is, as was my last trip here six months ago, work-related but, as the cliché goes (and, as you probably know, I’m more than a little partial to the obvious truisms that such banalities convey), a change really can be as good as a rest. Mind you, having vacated the muggy, warm comfort of my scratcher shortly after 4am this morning, a rest wouldn’t go amiss at this juncture either.

But, foreign travel and sleep deprivation aside, there’s the usual diet of Tuesday news to talk about. Mayo News, that is. Such as Mike Finnerty’s match report. And Kevin McStay’s column where he runs through the pluses and minuses from O’Moore Park. And the after–match quotes from Johnno who praised the “honest effort” the guys put in right up to the final whistle. Johnno also reveals that BJ was suffering from ankle and calf injuries which prevented him from training for the past two weeks and says that Keith Higgins played despite suffering with the flu. Imagine how much faster he’d be able to run if he was feeling 100%! He says that Alan Dillon’s problem is a “recurrence of his ongoing back problem”. Not sure I like the sound of that. The Boss also, somewhat pointedly, says that while there was some criticism last year for not bringing through the younger contingent over the course of the league, he was happy that “no-one could accuse us of that this year”. That’s certainly true.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to locate my sunglasses, which I could have sworn I’d packed somewhere …