Dublin's Basquel puts Mayo family ties to one side

THERE are very few families more invested in Mayo and Dublin football than the Basquels.
So last Sunday’s All-Ireland SFC quarter-final at Croke Park was always going to be a special occasion for all of them, especially with Colm lining out for Dublin.
The fact that the 27 year-old went on to deliver a man of the match performance, and score 2-2 in the process, as Mayo went tumbling out of the championship made it an unforgettable day for the Basquels.
“It's great to play against the relatives and stuff like that, but I just focused on the game and the football and thankfully it worked out today,” Colm told RTE as he picked up his man of the match award.
Colm’s father, Noel, is a native of Mountbrown, Aughagower, just outside Westport.
Noel is one of fourteen children (including four sets of twins) who were born and raised in Mountbrown, and is one of a handful of siblings who have settled in Ballyboden GAA club’s catchment area in Dublin.
Back in 2017, Colm’s uncle, Tony Basquel, a well-known member of the Mayo Association in Dublin, spoke to The Mayo News ahead of that year’s All-Ireland club final between Ballyboden St Enda’s and Castlebar Mitchels.
At the time he explained that the whole Basquel family were Mayo GAA fanatics — including Colm and his brother, Ryan, who has also played for Dublin in the past.
“Both Colm and Ryan would have very strong connections with Mayo,” said Tony six years ago. “They spent a lot of time down in Mountbrown when they were young kids, and would have been out farming and helping their uncles.
“They’d always have been regarded as Mayo supporters growing up.
“I remember a picture of Colm when he was 11 or 12 in a Ballyboden sponsorship picture and he had the Mayo jersey on inside the Ballyboden jersey!
“We’re all Mayo fanatics, and we’d follow Mayo all over the country,” he added. “We don’t miss too many matches.”
Colm’s mother, Bernie Ryan from Tipperary, is a former All-Ireland ladies football winner with the Premier County.
"We just went and reset at half-time and said we'd come out in the third quarter and stay on script,” added Colm Basquel after Sunday’s game.
“The chances were there for us and we stayed clinical. It worked out well for us and we're looking forward to a semi-final.”