1992 milestone is becoming a millstone

Three constant features in Donegal pubs: 1, Guinness taps; 2, unfeasibly large collections of Irish country music artists, with a heavy local bent; 3, framed pictures of the 1992 All-Ireland champions.

This weekend local fans will sip in the pub and might allow themselves a wistful smile if their eyes fall upon that famous team snap.

The threads between that time and now grow more tenuous by the year - of the 15 who lined out in the All-Ireland final against Dublin, only Tony Boyle and Noel Hegarty are still playing.

The exploits of that September served to startle the people of a generally insular county, to rouse them out of themselves for a time, and the wild celebrations suggested that the meaning transcended the sporting achievement. It was as if Donegal, a sprawling and disparate county, had unearthed a new collective identity. It remains the touchstone and now, with the prospects of the current squad clouded in pessimism, the legacy of 1992 lurks almost accusingly in the shadows. "There have been, perversely, a few negative aspects to winning that All-Ireland," said Padraig McShea, a player when Donegal won their first Ulster titles in 1972 and 1974.

"We are all guilty of persistently talking about it and you have to wonder why. Kerry don't talk about 1997. Meath won't reflect on 1999. There was a euphoria about that time which I'll never forget as long as I live. But it changed the whole parameters. Ulster was no longer the watershed. I think that the Donegal team won an All-Ireland maybe two years too late to really capitalise on it.

"And maybe we clung to the core of that team for too long - it was understandably hard for Brian (McEniff) to divorce himself from the guys who did it for him. But it's true, the engine room of that side fell away and has yet to be replaced."

With the 10-year anniversary of that 1992 triumph starting to form on the horizon, pessimism - in a county not really sold on the concept of optimism at the best of times - is rife. There is real fear that Fermanagh, for so long an afterthought, will come into Ballybofey and avenge the many gallows years.

"There is a lot of pessimism all right." said former manager PJ McGowan. "The team didn't go well in the league, we took a fairly severe beating by Tyrone in the under-21 Ulster final and there is a general feeling that youngsters aren't coming through. Maybe we didn't capitalise on 1992 but a fair amount of youth work has been done."

None of which is to castigate the current manager Declan Bonner.

"I can say with assurance that Declan has trawled the county and that the best players are in the squad. I think the pivotal game in Declan's reign was the Ulster final of 1998. I was smiling at the end of that game at the prospect of going back to Croke Park. They just got unlucky. But he has lost a few key lads even since then and it will be hard this year," said McGowan.

McGowan also believes that his successor has squeezed the most out of his team. Although it is still sprinkled with characteristically skilful performers such as Brian Roper and Michael Hegarty, the team is astonishingly lightweight in physique, in contrast to the players who lined out in the glory days.

"I don't know why that is, there just doesn't seem to be any big fellas of the requisite calibre," said McShea. "And it has an effect. When they played Dublin, it was like men against boys."

In 1987 McGowan guided Donegal to their second under-21 All-Ireland of the decade. Back then there was a flood of young talent coming through and the senior squad were competitive if inconsistent. The core of that team provided enough depth for McEniff to mould his defining team five years on. McShea said: "My belief is that the game isn't as important to some youngsters now. Some of the problems endemic to the county - the geographical spread, the tendency to leave for work do remain. But there is also the fact that by the age of 18, some lads just choose a different path to football."

As 1992 recedes in time, so its legacy burns more intensely. Both McShea and McGowan admit that if they had been told that Donegal would not come out of Ulster to the present time they would have found it difficult to accept. But so it has been, despite the ruined promise of 1995 and the bad luck of 1998. And it is possible to convince oneself now that 1992 was a glorious once-in-a lifetime aberration.

Bonner has been loyal and upbeat about his team during an uneven term illuminated by brief passages of promise. If he decides to step down at the conclusion of this year's championship, the county board will be faced with the unenviable task of finding a successor.

"I honestly think they will have difficulty in finding someone if Declan goes," said McGowan.

"There was a time when people were chomping at the bit for a crack at that job. Not any more. Yes, I think they could be hard pressed. Well, my name will not be in the hat anyhow. Absolutely not."