Farewell, and thanks for the memories

OUT OF THE NORTH: Don't worry, it will all soon be over. After almost four years, over 150 weekly missives and some 200,000 words, Out of the North is shuffling off to the great retirement home in the sky reserved for clapped-out opinion columns and their wizened, cynical writers.

The first offering back in the spring of 1998 was born in the absurdly optimistic aftermath of the Belfast Agreement, and what followed was an attempt to chart the course of Northern sport and its vibrant culture through those brave new waters. Time, then, for a little forgivable self-indulgence, some backward glances and a few tentative looks towards the future.

Some Good Things: 1. The slow but inevitable evolution of the GAA into a confident, modern organisation of which its members can be proud and which its detractors can respect.

2. The creeping realisation that this place will remain a sporting pariah until sectarianism is both addressed and effectively dealt with.

3. Ulster's European Cup rugby win provided some brightness amid the gloom. I was almost converted.

4. The continued and unparalleled brilliance of Tony McCoy. Some recognition would be welcome.

5. The respectful and generous responses of the GAA, Darren Clarke and countless others to support the victims of the Omagh bomb.

6. Tyrone's peerless dominance of national under-age football. Now, can we have our senior All-Ireland please?

7. Martin O'Neill. The local boy in the big picture. The talk was never a problem, now he has shown he can walk the walk as well.

8. GAA managers and their marvellous eccentricities. Eamonn Coleman, Art McRory and Sean McGuinness we salute you.

9. A functioning Northern Ireland Executive and a minister with responsibility for sport who shows he is at least on nodding terms with some of its problems. Meaningful investment is the next logical step.

10. Hockey on television. Inspiration for everyone, because if they can get coverage, then anyone can.

Some Less Good Things: 1. Try as it might, local football can't quite wriggle free from the sectarian noose. The treatment of Neil Lennon by so-called Northern Ireland fans was proof that while change may be in the air everything tends to remain the same.

2. On the field the Northern Ireland team continue to under-perform with disastrous consistency, and the low level of achievement is thrown into even sharper relief by the beginning of another great World Cup adventure for the Republic.

3. The Omagh bomb was indiscriminate in the way it killed and injured so many with close sporting associations. The deaths of so many young sportsmen and women was the easily the darkest moment of the last four years.

4. Death also stalked motorbike racing. Among those taken was Joey Dunlop, and the emotional public response to his death revealed previously untapped wells of admiration and good will.

5. The blind eye that is repeatedly turned towards GAA violence degrades us all and is driving untold numbers of young people into the welcoming arms of soccer and rugby.

6. Rugby's image problem has tended to make it an easy target. Advances are being made, but the unmistakable feeling is that the opportunity to broaden its constituency offered by the European Cup win has been squandered.

7. The decline of Ulster hurling and, to a lesser extent, Ulster football has been inexorable and far-reaching. Some concerted efforts are needed if hurling, in particular, is not to become peripheral to the game in the rest of the country.

8. Eddie Irvine's breathtaking arrogance and lack of civility in the face of his repeated failure to deliver anything to be arrogant about.

9. Unimaginative administrators. Northern Ireland has not exactly cornered the market in this, but we do seem to produce more per capita than anywhere else. Just show some initiative. Live a little.

10. A complacent media. If it looks like a sporting backwater and talks like a sporting backwater then it probably is one. A little less back-slapping and a lot more critical analysis wouldn't go amiss.

And Some Totally Inexplicable Things: 1. Ice hockey in Belfast. Each to his own, of course, but if only a fraction of the media hype, government support and commercial sponsorship had been diverted into other areas the overall sporting prognosis would be a lot healthier.

2. Wimbledon in Belfast. For a worrying few months it looked like high-level government intervention would make this a viable proposition. The way in which the club's owners are still trying to hawk it off to the highest bidder with some land available is proof positive of the lucky escape we had.

3. Lawrie McMenemy in Belfast. Bryan Hamilton, the man he succeeded as Northern Ireland manager, was well-liked and was taking the team in the right direction. McMenemy was unpopular and the results actually got worse. Not the IFA's finest moment.

Proudest Moment By Far: No contest. The first steps in this sporting journey were taken with Drumragh Sarsfields, and it was a rare joy and a privilege both to share in and document the senior team's success in the Tyrone Junior Championship. All human life was there: the shared community experience, the pleasure of victory, the wistfulness at not being a playing part of it. Sport has rarely been so close or so affecting. Now we have our own pitch there is no stopping us.

Reasons To Be Cautiously Optimistic: 1. The IFA's new, pro-active anti-sectarian policy. A lot of people are going to take a lot of convincing, but the longest journey begins with the smallest step.

2. Michael Hoey. The most genuine golfing prospect to have emerged here since Darren Clarke. His nonchalant self-confidence on a succession of big stages bodes well for the future. The one to watch.

3. The bedding down of the new government structures can only be a good thing for local sport. All it takes now is for someone to back up all the fine words with some action in terms of investment in facilities and infrastructure.

4. With exciting crops of young players emerging in Down, Derry and Tyrone, there may yet be a possibility that the South's Gaelic football hegemony can be broken.

Reasons To Be Decidedly Gloomy: The continued fascination of my two-year-old son with rugby, ice hockey and wrestling whenever they appear on television is a source of grave concern. As is his apparent determination to throw his GAA lot in with Armagh rather than Tyrone. Will he grow out of these worrying predilections, or is this how it is going to be for the next 20 years? Just how much is a parent supposed to suffer?

Thanks for having me. It's been a blast.