GAA pals send best wishes to Northern Ireland’s link-man on and off field

Out in Beaujolais country, north of Lyon, a new and different kind of red has started to be talked about. There's one in the vet's window on Avenue Charles de Gaulle; the chemist has one too, and the bank. Saint-Georges-de-Reneins is the sleepy sun-soaked village where Northern Ireland have their Euros training base and, judging by the red hand of Ulster shining from posters, the locals have clearly taken to Michael O'Neill's squad.

And yet as these were appearing in French shop windows, Mickey Harte and the Tyrone footballers got a mention yesterday. So did Aberdeen FC, Donaghmore GAA, Dungannon Swifts and Derry City.

Northern Ireland are suddenly receiving support from different quartiers and one of the reasons for this is Niall McGinn. The 28-year-old from Donaghmore, approaching his fourth anniversary with Aberdeen, has often acted as a link on the pitch – he did, as he pointed out, contribute most assists in qualification.

Inundated

But here he was discussing the impact Northern Ireland have made off it, at home and abroad. McGinn has been inundated.

"The messages have been pretty surreal," he said. "On the likes of Facebook people have been changing their profile pictures, my family have been unbelievable, even my local GAA club, Donaghmore, were tweeting me.

“Dungannon Swifts have been great, putting up posters. There’ve been messages from Derry City and Aberdeen as well. It’s pretty surreal.”

McGinn’s mother and father, Miriam and Paul, will be in Nice on Sunday to see the opening group game against Poland, and McGinn said there were plenty of other ticket requests from “back home”.

Then there are “friends in America who can’t make it – so I’ve sent a jersey to San Francisco, one to Sacramento”.

McGinn is spreading the word. He may speak of "frustrations" at being more likely to come on against Poland as a substitute than to start, but someone who knows all too well the nature of northern life from his days at Celtic could say: "Things have gone from strength to strength regarding the local community.

“I played a lot of Gaelic football but I’ve been a professional footballer for eight or nine years. The support I’ve got from my GAA background has been pretty incredible.”

McGinn recalled how, when playing for Dungannon Swifts in the Irish League, he once faced Linfield in Belfast in a 3 o’clock kick-off, then rushed back to play for Donaghmore against Errigal Ciaran that evening.

As such, McGinn was a bridge. But Mickey Harte’s name arose yesterday when one required burning. It was 2008 and the winger – or corner forward – was 20.

Tyrone seniors

“When I was coming to the decision between Tyrone seniors and Derry City, Mickey Harte was constantly phoning me to play for Tyrone,” McGinn explained.

“It was the opening of the lights at Croke Park. Tyrone played Dublin. At the end of most of the conversations he was saying ‘just remember here, you’ve a chance to play in front of 80,000 people.’

“That was biting me in the ear. To get that opportunity, 80,000 at Croke Park, under the lights, that would have been unbelievable.

“I signed for Derry City and it moved on quickly. But even lately I’ve been getting messages from the Tyrone lads. It’s been really positive.”

From 80,000 in Dublin to 35,000 in Nice, McGinn made his choice. In qualification, he made more than a couple of telling contributions.

Two stand out. His was the equaliser in the opening match in Hungary before Kyle Lafferty got the late winner. And it was McGinn's controlled shot against Hungary in the return at Windsor Park that fell to Lafferty to sweep in a euphoric injury-time equaliser when Northern Ireland were down to 10 men.

Playing either on the right of midfield or more advanced, McGinn has become a key member of O’Neill’s squad. His next cap will be his 43rd.

Like the rest of the squad – bar Kyle Lafferty who trained lightly – McGinn had a day off yesterday and visited the nearby town. “I’ve got to be happy that I’m part of a brilliant squad and part of an unbelievable tournament,” he said.

It’s upon us, even out here in Beaujolais country.