THE decision of Eamonn Burns to include Keith Quinn in his Down team for their Dr McKenna Cup win over Ulster University earlier this month brought to an end a five-year absence for the versatile Mayobridge player.

With the dust still settling on the Mourne county’s Qualifier loss to Derry in 2013, Quinn packed his bags and headed off to America.

His plans were sketchy at that stage, but since then he has met and married his wife Trish, played in four Connacht Championship campaigns with New York and explored one of the greatest countries in the world.

Now he is back on home soil and keen to get back into the groove of inter-county football – although he isn’t sure if it’s a temporary or permanent stay.

“I have always kept in touch with all the boys in Mayobridge and Benny (Coulter) had taken over in a  player-manager role last year with the club and had asked me to come back.

“I tried to make it work last year but it just wasn’t a good time for me and Trish with work commitments, our wedding and so on.

“So we both quit our jobs and went travelling around south east Asia for four months and our last stop was Ireland for Christmas, and we will spend the year here together and see what happens.”

The full inteview with Keith Quinn is available in store today or online here.