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Concerned parents of school leavers with disabilities are urging local politicians to support their call for the reversal of a Government decision to cut services for these “vulnerable” children.

They have been there and done it three times in the past decade, while we are still waiting to do it for the first time in over 60 years, and on Sunday in Croke Park the Mayo juggernaught will collide with the Tyrone colossus for a place in the All Ireland final in four weeks’ time. Mayo have breezed through Connacht and swatted aside the challenge of the reining All Ireland champions en route to this showdown, while Tyrone have taken the scenic route that has taken them from defeat in May in Ballybofey, on to Tullamore, Roscommon, Newbridge, and Croke Park to get to the semi-final. James Horan named an unchanged side from the one that beat Donegal in the quarter-final on Thursday afternoon, with Tom Cunniffe getting the nod despite limping out of the Donegal game.

Hunger was the difference between Mayo and Donegal last Sunday according to many pundits; it was more like starvation. What more can you say, the best ever performance by a Mayo team in Croke Park and I don’t say that lightly. Donegal didn’t know what hit them, the way they dismantled the All-Ireland champions was so impressive it scared the living daylights out of everybody watching including the remaining three teams left in the competition. I was on Highland Radio (Donegal’s local station) the Wednesday evening before the quarter final and after telling it as it was, that I thought this Mayo team were in a really good place because of their build up, the competition for places and their ability to ease and not rush players back from injury unlike Donegal, and that Mayo were in serious physical shape, only to be jibed somewhat by James McHugh and Paul McGonigle (two former Donegal players) that “according to John Casey Donegal shouldn’t bother turning up on Sunday”. Well, maybe they should have listened.

It is sometimes hard to remember that Cillian O'Connor is only in his second year out of minor football. Last years national young footballer of the year, stepped up in front of the Hill on Sunday and slotted free's and 45's over the bar like he was just out practicing shooting by himself in his native Ballintubber. Right from the off, O'Connor showed no sign of nerves effecting him at all when he stood up to take his first effort at a 45 early on. “Yeah, they’re not ideal, they’re not as easy as 14 yard frees but if you don’t love kicking ‘45s into the Hill on a sunny day in Croker, you’re playing the wrong game. I was excited, I couldn’t wait to get out there, I suppose they were two difficult ones but you have to want to take them and thank God they went over. I suppose they set me up then for the rest of the game, gave me a bit of confidence”

In recent decades there have been a number of inter-county teams that have made real eye catching progress. Dublin, Tyrone, Armagh, Kerry and Cork are the obvious selection in this regard and they, more than most, have brought a new dimension to the whole area of team sacrifice and all year round physical preparation. In fairness, Mayo football has also moved up a gear or two and if nothing else we are a team that few will ever take for granted. But I get the impression that we are just about hanging on to the coat tails of the top three or four teams in the country right now. On the evidence of the matches I have witnessed so far this year, I need some convincing from Sundays encounter with Leitrim that we deserve to be talked about in the same breath as Dublin, Cork and, believe it or not, Donegal. I watched the Ulster champions play Derry last Saturday and those of you who saw Derry’s inept performance will agree that they (Derry) are a team in serious decline. But it was the performance of Donegal that was the main talking point of the encounter. They played a terrific brand of open flowing football that suggests they have stepped up a level from last year. It should be a fascinating Ulster semi-final between themselves and Tyrone in a week’s time. But I am digressing!

Mayo will make their second trip to Ulster in three weeks when they head to Ballyshannon on Sunday to take on a Donegal side who are rooted to the bottom of division one of the National Football League. The Ulster champions have only picked up one win in their four games so far in the campaign, that win was a surprise win against defending league champions Cork in Ballybofey a fortnight ago. Along with a defeat to Kerry last Sunday, Jim McGuinness’s side have also been beaten by Down and Laois in this year so far.

The only coffee shop in Athlone directly by the river Shannon, Shannon Crafts & Coffee Dock on The Strand has a great view of Athlone Castle, the town bridge, and St Peter and Paul’s Church, with outside tables where you can relax in a lovely atmosphere.

A Castlebar woman in Florida, USA, was reported this week to have survived a massive explosion after a pressurised oxygen machine was kicked by a horse.

Ballina Stephenites 1-11

It’s win or bust for the Mayo minors on Sunday at high noon when the ball is thrown in on Sunday for their Connacht Championship semi-final against Roscommon. Tony Duffy is in his second year in charge of the side and despite being the current Connacht Champions there are no guarantees at this grade. A win would put Mayo into the Connacht final against either Sligo or Galway, who square up tomorrow evening in their semi-final in the shadow of Benbulben in Sligo; a win will guarantee them a place in the All Ireland quarter finals at the least. The team on Sunday will be captained by Breaffy’s Conor O’Shea on a big day for his family with his brothers, Aidan and Seamus, lining out in midfield for the senior team later that day against Galway. Duffy will be able to call upon four of the squad from last years Connacht title win with O’Shea being joined by fellow alumni from 2010 Conor Horan, Ryan Quirke, and James Shaughnessy to backbone the side. However such is the nature of underage competitions, getting a new side to gel each year is not an exact science and on Sunday Duffy and his management team will be hoping that all the hard work through the Connacht league in the spring will come to fruition and set the team up for another crack at a Connacht title.