Fermanagh skipper Martin McGrath will tie the knot on Saturday week — and he’s hoping to have more to celebrate as 2010 unfolds.

The midfielder will wed Roisin Maguire at a ceremony to be attended by many leading GAA personalities.

And while Martin is looking forward to the occasion, he is also anxious to see Fermanagh enjoy much better fortune in the New Year.

Relegation to Division Two of the National Football League this year proved the precursor to a depressing Ulster Championship first round proper defeat by Cavan before Wicklow subsequently brought the curtain down rather prematurely on their campaign in the All Ireland Qualifiers.

“I am very keen to see Fermanagh get back up there again. We got to the All Ireland semi-finals in 2004 and then we reached the Ulster final in 2008. We have shown we can compete with the best of them, but this year was a bit of a downer,” admits McGrath.

He has been troubled by an injury lately that requires surgery, but insists that he will be back “at the coal face”, as he puts it.

And Fermanagh boss Malachy O’Rourke will certainly welcome his inclusion in his side. With Barry Owens also expected to return to full fitness by the late Spring, Aidan McCarron having forsaken Tyrone to throw in his lot with the Ernemen and Shane McCabe, Rory Gallagher and Ryan McCluskey likely to be available for championship action, the westerners will not be short of quality.

With Ryan Carson expected to build on the impressive form he showed this year and Tommy McIlroy having developed into one of the best defenders in the country, O’Rourke feels that at full strength Fermanagh will be equipped to meet the toughest challenges.

“We believe that in time we will be able to field a strong side, but for the moment our hope is to discover perhaps a few players who might bed into the side for the longer term,” reveals O’Rourke.

The Barrett Sports Lighting Dr McKenna Cup, in which Fermanagh open their campaign against Armagh at Crossmaglen on January 10, should provide a pointer in this direction and O’Rourke and his selectors, who now include former Derry ace Johnny McBride, will be closely assessing their squad during the competition.