LEINSTER SFC/Westmeath v Dublin: Schoolteacher Senan Connell tells Ian O'Riordan about the honours grade he's aiming for this year
In the staff room at St Declan's in Cabra some teachers flick through the sports pages and in walks Senan Connell. There's only the slightest glance in either direction; all thoughts in the calm afternoon are on the build-up to exam time.
And that's the first thing that strikes you about this Dublin footballer - the absolute normality, the championship a world away.
Next door there's a waiting room and Connell, carrying two cups of tea, kindly points the way. Interrogation room, you think to yourself. He takes a seat and raises a smile, aware that he might just have to tell some truths. What is the story with Dublin football?
For as long as you want he takes each question on the chin and tells it as he sees it. That Dublin were overhyped and overexposed last year, but ultimately only the players failed. That hitting the big three-0 has made him even more fixated on winning an All-Ireland medal. And that as long as Tommy Lyons is the boss, there is only one boss.
These are also the days he lives for, championship days. Tomorrow, Croke Park is tangled up in blue for the first time this summer, and, win or lose, Connell will have his say. He's the sort of player Dublin supporters used to take for granted and, it seems, only now appreciate. A smooth and consistent and honest wing forward at last getting the hard rating he deserves.
"No, it doesn't bother me at all," Connell says sharply when asked if he still feels underrated. "It might have something to do with the position I play, but it's normal for people to look at the likes of Ciarán Whelan and Paddy Christie, who've always been up there with the best of them. But I prefer to keep it low-key anyway, keep things on the level. I really do."
He'll be the oldest Dublin player starting tomorrow, but no one will give it more. Since he made his first championship start just four years ago you can count on one hand the number of Dublin games he's missed. Heck, he even kicked that winning point against the Underdogs.
And there's still that something extra burning inside him. That club fiasco seven years ago when his transfer from St Oliver Plunkett's to Na Fianna became back-page fodder for the Evening Herald still frustrates, and still drives him. It cost him almost a year out of the game and without his raw determination to prove them all wrong could have ended his career too.
"I know I was blinded by a lot of things that year. But I couldn't believe how people in the association could turn their back on you like that, and just let a player go. I went off and played soccer that year and had a great time. We won everything in the amateur league. And a couple of the lads I played with went on to be junior internationals.
"But something kept niggling in the back of my mind, to get back playing Gaelic. I knew I was good enough at minor and under-21 level and I felt I'd a lot more to give. I know there is still bitterness there, but hopefully I can just be recognised as the county player I've become."
By the time Lyons took charge in the winter of 2001 Connell had finally found his feet on the senior panel. The following summer, in that memorable Leinster championship run and beyond, he started in all of Dublin's matches. So guess who ached most when all that progress was derailed during the summer of 2003?
"Last summer was definitely a kick in the backside. I suppose we were all expecting great things to happen. But I do believe you need your share of lows to get your highs. Having said that, I don't think we were too far off in any of the matches. Against Laois we hit what, like 17 wides? And still just lost by two points.
"Getting the result against Derry meant a lot to us. And then against Armagh, whatever about those problems at the end, we were still up by four points at one stage. And lost there by four. So we certainly weren't miles away from doing something big."
Fine, but as far as some people were concerned, Dublin hadn't just taken a step back, they'd gone years back, lost all their senses. Connell smiles again when you remind him of the fallout. Lyons and players in ugly spat! Cocky Dublin without swagger! Bring back Tom Carr!
"Of course, everyone is going to analyse a situation like that when Dublin are involved. I can tell you though that from talking to the players after the Armagh game we knew ourselves what went wrong. It was down to 14 against 14 because, after we lost Stephen Cluxton, they lost a man as well. And at that point we were still ahead.
"So you can't go looking at the sideline at moments like that. You're on the pitch and you have a job to do. Not the management, or the 70,000 people in the stands. You're the only ones.
"So as players we can't go blaming anyone else, or go on about who was taken off or whatever. And I know I failed on the day because I was one of the 14 out there that didn't win the match.
"Yeah, we sat down to discuss it afterwards. But it wasn't a falling out as such. We wanted to know how we were going forward, and to take the positives out of it.
"There were no great discussions about who would be on or off the panel and that's the way it's been since the start of January."
Together they've taken the lessons of last year on board and made some necessary adjustments. The panel was put on a 12-week strengthening programme before Christmas and that's been built on to produce a generally more physical, durable Dublin footballer.
They passed up on the winter holiday and went on an intensive training week to the Canaries instead. And as with most other counties the ice baths are now on order after the training sessions.
The roller-coaster of their league campaign has also dulled expectations. Most people expect Dublin to beat Westmeath tomorrow, but after that who knows.
Around the city and the suburbs, the words Dublin and Sam haven't yet been used in the same sentence. And that's not simply down to the demise of the Dublin Daily.
"We were everywhere last year," agrees Connell. "I wouldn't say that has taught us a lesson, and at the time you just accept things like the Dublin Daily. This time it's been nice and low key and that is one of the things we'd also tried to do different.
"In fact, it feels a lot more like it did going into 2002. We know we've prepared the best we can, and as a panel of 30, we're stronger than the last few years.
"But I know as I get older I don't get into what's happening on the outside. For me it's just the four walls of the Dublin panel, and I'd hope all the Dublin players think like that.
"I would have read all the papers when I was younger, when I shouldn't have, but now I couldn't care less. All that matters is what's said in the panel around me."
Connell's role in that panel has never been defined more clearly. Younger players look up to him, not just because he taught, say, Alan Brogan and Barry Cahill at St Declan's, and he accepts the responsibility that comes with maturity. With the departure of Dessie Farrell, the rank of most senior officer is now his.
What he doesn't need to do is keep the younger players on their toes, remind them to drag their own weight: "The youngsters on this panel have a lot more medals in their pockets than I have between minor and under-21 and whatever. And you can see it in their eyes that they want to win, and will go the whole hog to get there.
"So I would never have to take anyone aside and tell them about the disciplines of the game. All those players have taken it on board already."
Dublin could also be accused of being hesitant in trying out new players in recent months, not to mention trying out new free-takers: "I don't think we set out this year to find another five or six players. We set out to take those we had on to the next level. And I think a lot of them have - the likes of say Brian Cullen and Declan Lally."
He finds his thoughts drifting at training towards his own desire, to be the best he can before time comes calling.
He throws back his head at the question of marriage, as if anyone could put up with him while he's this focused on football. That might have to wait as long as it takes.
"For me, the hunger is definitely still there, so I wouldn't even question the commitment involved. I suppose once the hunger goes the discipline goes as well. But I won't be happy until I get that All-Ireland medal.
"And as you get older and want it even more you'll try anything to add that extra one percent. That's the way I am at the moment."
He doesn't have to look very far to draw inspiration from those around him, and often thinks about Peter Canavan with Tyrone last year and Kieran McGeeney with Armagh the year before. He knows the struggle is ultimately part of the beauty of success.
That's why he also watches out for Padraig Harrington, partly because he's a fellow Dub, but also because he appreciates the journey he's on in search of his own perfection. In the end, though, Connell will be satisfied that he gave it his all, a story that won't end with any regrets. Normality will always prevail.
"I also think about the All-Ireland semi-final two years ago, against Armagh. It was just 15 or 16 hours later that I was up in front of a class at nine o'clock.
"The young lads are looking up at you like you're a totally normal bloke, and I like that idea.
"It keeps you on the level, allows you to get on with life."