It’s right that we exercise caution with crowd numbers

THREE weeks in, nobody is quite sure yet of the risks of playing Gaelic games. The outbreaks of infections initially included around half a dozen clubs, but that quickly escalated to dozens. Although the guidance they were given from respective county boards was rooted in sensible assessment, practically every single club have taken matters into their own hands by shutting everything down before conducting extensive Covid-19 testing among all affected.

So far, the Return to Play has been a tightrope that clubs have walked with extreme care.

There’s been the odd, remarkable cavalier moment. In Tyrone, on the very first weekend, there were games played in front of decent crowds when there was meant to be no spectators whatsoever. Gates were left open and nobody was patrolling the stands to ensure social distancing, while indoor facilities were used. On the first weekend.

So with the latest announcement, despite the clarity now provided, this is still the greyest of grey areas.

Crowds of up to 500 are now be allowed into games. It’s not perfect. There will be serious rows and fall-outs over who gets in and who doesn’t — but it’s better than what we had before.

This is an increase pushed by GAA president John Horan.

“All we are trying to do is get people to be active outside and there is a pent-up demand for people to go to these matches,” he said. “I don’t think by calling for an increase from 200 to 500 that I’m putting public health or anybody at risk.

“We have put a lot of education and protocols in place to protect those involved in our games and I think it is a safe call to say we could cater for 500 in our stadia.”

Some have ventured the belief that this is self-entitlement writ large. Others might believe he does not go far enough. An ability to socially distance spectators is well within the capability of any club if they want to do the thing right.

One thing cannot be disputed, and that is that it feels wrong. Former

Monaghan player Paul Finlay talked of how “lousy” the situation was in Ballybay, where 55 tickets had to be raffled off for their first game against Clontibret.

On the Clontibret side, their manager, John Mcentee, who works in the public health sector, admitted his concerns regarding what the point is of playing out this season, and his stress of putting a team out during a pandemic.

The truth is that we are dealing with a million unknowns. The first test case of a team playing against another with an infected player came in the Eglish v Aghaloo game in Tyrone. All the other players came through that unscathed.

Let’s hope we can all be that lucky as the weeks go by.