A shop owner from Co Tyrone will see his loyalties tested this weekend as the county takes on Mayo in the All Ireland Senior Football Final.
Patrick McConville, from Ardboe, counts Mayo as his second county due to his family connections to the area, with his mother having moved to Co Tyrone from a small village in the western county.
The popular shopkeeper, who owns McConville’s shop in the village, said he is not sure what his heart will say as the game enters the closing stages but he has hedged his bets in the bookmakers by going for a draw.
Patrick said: “My mother was from Mayo, a wee place called Kilkelly between Charlestown and Knock, and she had come to the North to work and met my father, an Ardboe man.
“She had come to the North to work, there used to be a shop where the Tyrone Crystal factory is now in Edendork and she worked there along with her sister.
“Mayo has always been our second county and we wouldn’t begrudge them a win.
“You would see me as often in a Mayo jersey as you would in a Tyrone one.
“I’m hoping for a draw because I have fifty quid on it in the bookies!”
“I have been to Croke Park a lot of times and seen them lose, finals and semi finals and they have suffered a lot over the years.
“Everybody you would be talking to in the shop has said they wouldn’t be too disappointed if they did win because they have come so close so many times.
“Everybody has a soft spot for Mayo."
Patrick is one of the lucky few who will be heading down to Croke Park, which will be only half full with a limited attendance of 41,150.
He added: “I don’t know what I’ll do or who I’ll be shouting for going into the last few minutes, I might need a bottle of something with me to help the nerves.
“But we’ll see when the time comes who I end up shouting for, I’m just looking forward to heading down.”
“Yes I would like to see Tyrone winning but I wouldn’t be concerned if it went the other way, I would come up the road happy enough.”
