And so, here we are again. Christmas has been and gone, and New Year resolutions have been made and broken. Trying a dry January didn’t suit everyone; and the kids are only back school a wet week and they are already looking at a mid-term break next week.

It would be a great country if you could put a roof on it – and wasn’t there talk in the last few weeks of sticking a roof over parts of the centre of Galway City, an idea first mooted decades ago by Ray O’Brien of O’Brien’s Newsagents on Willim Street?

If one was in place, it would possibly have blown away with Storm Eowyn last month; and you can expect the metaphorical roof to blow off Turners Cross this Friday night when Galway United make the trip south to take on Cork City on the opening night of the new League of Ireland season (7.45pm).

“We know there will be a full house in Cork and we’re bringing a massive crowd with us as well, which is brilliant. There will be a massive atmosphere and the most important thing is that we are prepared, we settle into the game.

“We are going into a cauldron, but we have to sort of embrace the aggressive atmosphere against us, the hostile atmosphere, and be able to settle in with people. That’s what good players do, that’s what you want to do and it’s a big test for us,” says Galway United manager, John Caulfield.

He knows a thing or two about the hostility of arguably the best ground in the league – the cavernous Tallaght Stadium doesn’t come close to the atmosphere that washes over the home of the Munster FA – having been both a celebrated and successful player and manager at the club.

They seem to have short memories down on Leeside: on United’s trips there in 2022, chunks of the home fans booed their record goalscorer, the man who led them to one league title, to two FAI Cup successes, and three President’s Cup wins as a manager.

So, it turns out you can’t buy class in Cork, but you can buy one of the best strikers the league has seen in the last decade or so, and Caulfield knows that Seanie Maguire – who spent two years under him at Turners Cross – will require close attention on Friday.

“They’ve got Seanie McGuire, who I know exceptionally well, and him staying fit for Cork, he is probably guaranteed to get them 15, maybe 20 goals.

“[Ruairi] Keating beside him, if he chips in, if they get 30 goals between them, they’re capable of pushing to win a league. They’ll probably be looking at us as a team they are targeting to get three points, and get a good start to season, and if they get momentum, they’ll probably feel they a chance of certainly competing for Europe,” Caulfield says.

Pictured: Shelbourne manager Damien Duff shares a joke with Galway United manager John Caulfield, and new team captain, Greg Cunningham, at the league launch in the Mansion House in Dublin.  Photo: David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile.