Declan Byrne makes no attempt to sugarcoat it. Nor does he dodge the question.

When asked about Louth's 2011 season, the St Mochtas clubman - who has become a regular fixture in the Wee County's defence - shoots straight from the hip. He calls it as he sees it. No point ducking the issue, anyhow. We all know Louth flopped big time in the championship … so it's refreshing to hear one of the players speak openly, honestly and sensibly about the events of the past twelve months.

It was a terrible year, to be honest with you," offers versatile Mochtas footballer Byrne, now an intrinsic part of the Wee County set-up. While there were some silver linings evident during the national league, Louth's season was effectively one big dark cloud as they capitulated to successive championship defeats to Carlow and Meath - a far cry from the dizzy heights of 2010 when they practically ruled Leinster only to have the Delany Cup snatched from their grasp by one of the most erroneous pieces of refereeing ever witnessed at Croke Park.

"We started off alright when we got promotion to Division Two, which was one of our main aims for the year, but we didn't show up at all against Carlow and the Meath game spoke for itself. It was all very disappointing."

Declan played a big part in Louth's Division Three triumph, even if he did miss the actual league final win itself - against Westmeath at Croke Park - through suspension. Even though the Reds accumulated some silverware during the course of 2011, would it be fair to say they were expecting a lot more from their season?

"At the start of the year, we would have been expecting to get promoted at the very least because Division Three isn't where you want to be, but we also hoped to get back to another Leinster final given the draw. There was a good chance if we performed that we'd reach back-to-back Leinster finals, but it just didn't happen…"

Why not? Where did it go wrong? What was the difference between Louth in 2010 and Louth in 2011? Why the dramatic drop in performance levels? "People talk a lot about second-year syndrome and that's exactly what it was. We seemed to find it very hard to get motivated, which simply shouldn't happen at this level. Against Carlow, we were complacent, even though we knew how dangerous that would be, and we just didn't pick ourselves up for the Meath game."

On the positive side, the St Mochtas midfielder remains confident that there's no shortage of quality footballers in the Wee County. They were very good in 2010 and didn't become a poor team overnight… "There's no doubt we are a better team than what we showed this year. It's going to be a big step up next year to Division Two and we have to improve dramatically. We're not under any illusions. We know we really have to work hard to get back on track.

"Playing in Division Two should help bring us along. You're up against a better class of opposition and we have local derbies against Meath and Monaghan as well as meetings with quality sides like Tyrone, Derry and Kildare so it's bound to bring us on provided we apply ourselves properly. We have to pick it up big-time. We have an awful lot of work to do."

Okay, putting this year behind and moving on, what is a realistic objective for 2012? "Obviously, staying up in Division Two will be our main target and then to get a good run in Leinster. People are very disappointed with Louth football at the moment and expectations will be low for next year, which might take a bit of pressure off us. Hopefully we can get a good run in the league, get some wins under our belt, and then go into the championship with a bit of confidence."

Declan was introduced to the Louth senior set-up by Eamonn McEneaney three years ago but missed the majority of that season with a broken ankle before establishing himself as a key player in the Louth team. A very versatile player, he is used mainly in the half-back line, but would be equally comfortable anywhere in the middle diamond or at corner back. He knows how to take a score too, so he could line out in attack either. He's the kind of all-action player who's important to have around the squad. And Declan's younger brother Ciaran is also emerging as a serious talent. Regarded as one of the best scoring forwards produced by the Wee County in a long time, Ciaran Byrne was Louth's U16 Player of the Year in 2010 and starred for both Dundalk Schools and the county minors in 2011. Will we see the St Mochtas siblings in action together on the Louth senior team sometime soon?

Returning to more current matters, did the savage disappointment of 2010 - when Louth were blatantly robbed of their first Leinster championship in 53 years - have an effect on the team in 2011? "It could have. It's not often Louth get to Leinster finals and it was hard to pick it up again after having the title taken away from us like that. I think any team would struggle to get an injustice like that out of their system, but we can't use it as an excuse.

"In short, the motivation this year was bad and I can't put my finger on why. Nobody was as motivated as we were the previous year. I don't know how the other players feel on the matter but personally I didn't feel the same buzz. In 2010, we were really up for it and everybody was buzzing with Peter [Fitzpatrick] in for his first year in charge. But we didn't work as hard this year and everything was very flat."

As a result, Louth's reputation - so greatly enhanced by their 2010 heroics - took a bit of a battering. They are now back amongst the also-rans, no doubt regarded by the masses as a one-year flash-in-the-pan. Perhaps the results on 2011 will give the players a much-needed kick in the backside? "Hopefully so. Hopefully it will spur us on. We know that there's a serious amount of work to be done over the winter. We were badly out of sorts and we need to do a lot of conditioning to get up to the level of fitness and sharpness that's required for Division Two football. I suppose the fact that we'll be playing in Division Two is a real bonus; at least something good came from the year.

"The players are there if we get the attitudes right. If everybody is motivated, committed and has the right spring in their step, then we can pick it up again next year and make a real push. We know what we're capable of when we get it right on the day, so now we have to get back to the level we were at in the 2010 championship. There should be great pride in wearing the county jersey. Players should look forward to playing for Louth. We just need to roll up our sleeves, get the heads right, and kick on again." Tweet

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