{"id":623813,"date":"2026-08-06T16:12:27","date_gmt":"2026-08-06T16:12:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/623813\/"},"modified":"2026-08-06T16:12:27","modified_gmt":"2026-08-06T16:12:27","slug":"paul-galvin-its-a-bad-loss-for-us-i-think-we-have-to-be-cold-about-it-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/623813\/","title":{"rendered":"Paul Galvin: \u2018It\u2019s a bad loss for us, I think we have to be cold about it\u2019 \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Paul Galvin is in the Abbey Theatre<\/a> to help launch Culture Night<\/a> 2026. Hundreds of free events will take place across Ireland on September 18th, or in old GAA<\/a> parlance \u2013 on the third Friday in September. <\/p>\n

But out west, over the past 12 days, the most significant cultural movement of the year in Ireland is still unfolding. If you want some culture in your life, head to Belmullet and celebrate the ending of a 75-year curse<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Yet if Mayo<\/a>\u2019s historic victory has triggered an unprecedented amount of goodwill, for every winner there must be a loser. Kerry<\/a>\u2019s part in this sporting and cultural drama is to be the vanquished. <\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, I think it will be a tough winter in Kerry,\u201d says Galvin. \u201cBut I think Jack [O\u2019Connor] will get around quickly to addressing things he feels needs to be addressed, whether that\u2019s in the squad or the back room team.\u201d<\/p>\n

Galvin\u2019s wife \u2013 radio presenter Louise Duffy \u2013 is from Mayo so he can appreciate the enormity of the result and its impact on the county and beyond. <\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, definitely, it was a huge moment in time. I think it was a very significant moment,\u201d says the four-time Sam Maguire winner. \u201cBut it was in the air the morning of the match, and I said it to several people; there was just something in the air.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was doing some talks beforehand, and I just had a funny feeling before that game. When it all transpired at the end of the game, it was hard to take your eyes off it, really and truly.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I was hugely disappointed, and I\u2019m still disappointed because what has got lost in probably the significance of the Mayo win is the significance of the Kerry loss. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a bad loss for us, and I think we have to be cold about it and analytical about it, and hopefully the analysis will happen whereby there\u2019ll be a few bits, maybe look back at 2023 and maybe look at 2019 and 2011 to see if there are any threads tying these losses together.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Kerry'sKerry’s David Clifford and Sean O’Shea dejected after the match. Photograph: Ryan Byrne\/Inpho <\/p>\n

Galvin has not yet watched back all of the game, so he\u2019s not about to lay the blame at anybody\u2019s door, but he hopes from rummaging around in the weeds of the defeat that Kerry will find the answers required to build again in 2027.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d be slow to be throwing my oar in, because obviously there\u2019s a bit of reflection and a bit of analysis from the management because there will always be reasons; for everything there\u2019s a reason.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought after 20 minutes Mayo were the better side and deserved to win. And they looked like they were maybe a bit fitter, which would be probably one of the ports of call, I would say.\u201d<\/p>\n

In those terms, he feels age might be about to become a more important factor in the modern game than it was a few years ago. And when he says age, he means youth.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you were to look at the age profile of the teams as well, there\u2019s probably something in that. I would say the general age profile of that Mayo team is younger than Kerry\u2019s age profile.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd when you\u2019re 19, 20, 21, you can just go harder and for longer, so there might be a bit in that. <\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe the rules have made the game younger again. There\u2019s a bit more space and a bit more room maybe, so that might be a thing where teams are going to have to look at perhaps going for younger sides.\u201d<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Mayo\u2019s victory was the greatest sporting occasion I\u2019ll ever attendOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

The average age of Kerry\u2019s starting 15 in the All-Ireland final was 28 while Mayo\u2019s average age was 23.8. <\/p>\n

Kerry had no players starting the game under 24 while Mayo had seven aged 24 or younger. Andy Moran\u2019s side had three teenagers in their line-up \u2013 Eoin McGreal, Kobe McDonald and Darragh Beirne.<\/p>\n

\u201cLooking to next year, we\u2019re not sure what the markers are right now for potential All-Ireland winners; we\u2019re not quite sure what the key pieces are because there\u2019s still a little bit of the unknown,\u201d says Galvin.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut it looks now like younger guys, that mightn\u2019t have been deemed ready in the old game, are very ready now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Much of the prematch commentary in advance of the final tipped Kerry to come out on top while there were also some ill-judged posters produced \u2013 particularly one in relation to Mayo always being the bridesmaid.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe build-up was tough as well, I thought; some of the stuff Jack had to deal [with] was no help, and if Mayo were looking for any extra motivation, then I think maybe they might have found it on game-week as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Ciar\u00e1n Kilkenny: \u2018Phenomenal talent\u2019 Kobe McDonald has what it takes to excel in AustraliaOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

With Kobe McDonald<\/a> due to arrive in Australia today to begin his career as an AFL player, Galvin believes the Mayo star has the quality to be a success Down Under.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a man, physically, already. He has a seriously developed physique, and you\u2019d have to think his genes are good, like his dad \u2013 for such a stylish type of player \u2013 he was physically very tough and lean. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m no expert, but I think he\u2019s going to do very well down there. He seems to be very well wired mentally as well; he seems very mature.\u201d<\/p>\n

* Culture Night 2026 will take place on Friday, September 18th with free cultural events in towns, cities, villages and rural communities nationwide. Full programme details can be found at www.culturenight.ie<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Paul Galvin is in the Abbey Theatre to help launch Culture Night 2026. Hundreds of free events will…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":623814,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[75],"tags":[10416,112771,142183,18,117,131567,5286,19,17,165046,26710],"class_list":["post-623813","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-kerry-gaa","tag-abbey-theatre","tag-culture-night","tag-eire","tag-entertainment","tag-football-championship","tag-gaa","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-kobe-mcdonald","tag-mayo-gaa"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/117049449857862292","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/623813","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=623813"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/623813\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/623814"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=623813"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=623813"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=623813"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}