It might even have been preordained in hindsight; after two decades of spending more than half the year on the road, the professional part of Mike Denver’s world was shut down in the blink of an eye by Covid.

And just as quickly another world opened up because within a week of shutdown, his baby girl Mia was born. It meant the Portumna star who was off the highways and byways for the longest time ever in his musical career, could enjoy that special time as his little girl took hold of his heart.

Now, things are almost back to normal in that Mike and the band are on the road like they were never away – but while he still takes issue at how his industry was largely ignored on pandemic payments, he will never regret a minute of the time he spent at home.

“Look, I think music took the biggest hit; we were the one sector above all that wasn’t looked after. And it’s really only coming back to where it was now,” he says.

“But with Mia, it was great timing – and I definitely don’t regret a minute of that because you’d never get a second chance to do that again,” he adds.

This year marks 20 years since Mike Denver and the band first hit the road – their first night was the Park Hotel in Edgeworthstown on January 11, 2003 – but the Portumna man already had plenty of mileage on the musical clock.

Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.

The Mike Denver Band play the Shearwater Hotel in Ballinasloe next Thursday, April 26. Tickets at €35 (plus booking fee) on sale now. There are also special concert packages on offer at the hotel. See www.shearwaterhotel.com.