Now he will be hoping that promotion for his beloved Norwich FC will provide solace for a crushing and very personal defeat.
Durkan could, as Tom Kelly argued earlier this year, find solace in a bigger, more professional club called Fianna Fail, where he can make a comeback in the green, white and gold colours of the Irish Republic's official 'Republican Party'.
Weaken any of them and you risk driving bewildered voters into the clutches of tub-thumping nationalists of one colour or another for solace and solidarity: Ukip, SNP or "English-nationalist light" Tories.
I can relate to people that go to church regularly, to a place of worship, where you can get away from your life and listen to extremely slow, repetitive music, to give yourself some solace and engage with ideas that aren't superficial or to do with day-to-day goals and ambitions.
Shaded by rows of oak and poplar trees, they form not only the place of peaceful interment for hundreds, but one of contemplation and reflection for anyone seeking solace and solitude.
On the rollercoaster ride that is the debt-stricken country's epic battle to stay afloat, many had hoped that Syriza would also provide solace.
A sign of solace may have come on Wednesday, when Greece made a €200m repayment to the International Monetary Fund, ahead of a meeting of the eurozone finance ministers on Monday – although this doesn't mean a breakthrough is imminent.
Berlusconi, meanwhile, owner of Italy's three biggest private television channels, sought solace in the arms of Francesca Pascale, a former television showgirl famed for co-singing a ditty with the memorable catchphrase: "If you show a bit of thigh, the ratings go up".
You might not think of nightclub DJs as sources of spiritual wisdom, but you'd be wrong, because one once told me a secret about playing to an empty room that has brought me great solace in life.
Since she began helping other bereaved families, Harriet has seen many others find similar solace.
Unlike Hayes, he won't get a farewell game and though he probably avoids Googling or Twitter-searching his own name anyway, I guess he'll just take solace in the universal respect of every team-mate he's ever played with and go home to look at that Premiership medal every day of his life.
