Tyrone fans have travelled a long and winding road to the All-Ireland Final. But the last leg of their journey has been smoothed somewhat by a decision to open the new Dundalk bypass a day early.
Taoiseach Bertie Ahern said he had directed that the bypass open - subject to final safety checks - at 8am tomorrow to accommodate the thousands of people from Northern Ireland who will be travelling to the games in Dublin.
The move will benefit supporters of both the Red Handers and minor finalists Down.
While neither constituency offers any electoral reward for Mr Ahern, they do have an opportunity to express their gratitude when the Taoiseach takes up his usual seat in the Croke Park stand.
It was in the same stadium four months ago - at one of U2's Dublin concerts - that Mr Ahern's name was greeted with loud boos.
However, if the Taoiseach thinks he has had a tough summer, what about Tyrone who have had to play twice as many games as Kerry to reach tomorrow's showdown?
Seeking to get their hands on the Sam Maguire trophy for just the second time, the 2003 champions are boosted by the return to the starting line-up of Peter "the Great" Canavan. But reigning champions Kerry are clear favourites to extend their record haul of 33 All-Ireland senior football titles.
The traditional scramble for tickets is worse this year in the Kingdom as it failed to make the minor final, and thus suffered a 1,200 drop in its allocation.
Perhaps too accustomed to success, there was markedly less hype in Kerry over the summer. However, decorations were suddenly appearing far and wide this week, including a giant black-and-
white picture of "Gooch" Cooper outside Ardshanavooley, the housing estate on the edge of Killarney where he lives.
There was bunting yesterday on the streets of Killarney. In Tralee, tiny teddy bears with players' names dotted the town houses. At Boherbee, a stronghold of Kerry GAA support, there was a riot of colour near the Austin Stack stadium at the entrance to town.
With all flights to Dublin fully booked all week, a charter flight has been arranged, and no fewer than six special trains are moving out of Kerry tomorrow.
Boylesports are offering 25/1 on a repeat of the hurling final embarrassment when more than 1,000 seats went unfilled in the stadium. But the GAA said the error - brought about when a box of tickets had been mistakenly labelled "football final" - was a one-off.
A full-house of 82,000 is expected.
Traffic disruption can be expected around the stadium, with Drumcondra Road closing from Whitworth Road to Botanic Avenue between 2pm and 7pm.