‘GAA IS SUCH A BIG PART OF US, IT’S BRILLIANT TO BE BACK’
Cormican saw Covid-19 horror up close
THE Toughest Summer series has chosen its subjects well. So far AIB’s miniseries has featured TJ Reid and how the former Hurler of the Year has kept his gym business afloat with all the pressures that come with a pandemic.
Then came Mayo footballer David Brady and his ‘It’s Good to Talk – GAA’ initiative that morphed into a movement.
Next up is Caitriona Cormican, the Cappataggle dual player who was a central player on Galway’s All-Ireland winning camogie team last year. Once again, sport is the hook for a bigger picture feature.
By day, Cormican works as a GP in Galway city and was right at the front line when the country went into lockdown back in March against the backdrop of an unfolding crisis in Italy.
‘Without doubt it was the craziest couple of months. The beginning was very worrying, very scary, for everybody. We didn’t know what the future held. We were seeing other countries, unfortunately the likes of Italy where the health system was just overwhelmed and they weren’t able to manage.
‘People weren’t getting medical care. They had to choose on age for life support machines, stuff like that. Scary stuff. We were just afraid things like that were going to happen in Ireland.
‘I suppose we were planning for the worst, hoping it wouldn’t happen. From a GP perspective we had to change our practice overnight. Our bread and butter is the face-to-face consult and the bond you make with your patient. But for the safety of staff and the patient we had to change that, had to go to phone and online consults until it was safe to have people back. It was such a strange couple of months.
‘At the beginning the referral criteria were narrow so a lot of patients who were probably fit for testing weren’t getting it because of the criteria. Then the testing centres were getting overwhelmed. It was crazy.
‘It was quite stressful alright. Patients would be wondering “Why can’t I get a test? I have the symptoms?”
‘The key message then was self-isolation. People did listen. As a GP, it was keeping a close eye on patients with symptoms, whether they needed any hospital care or managing at home.’
Now? Some semblance of normality has returned. Patients can be seen face-to-face, just with GPs all wearing PPE gear. She’s back training and playing with her club who face a crunch hurling championship game this weekend after losing last weekend to Athenry.
With the government deciding against moving to Phase Four of the roadmap and retaining the 200-person limit on crowds for games, people are wondering if it’s possible to get to big winter crowds for any All-Ireland series. Is intercounty moving closer and closer to a behind closed doors championship for any scheduled December 12 climax?
Experience has taught her not to try and predict what’s ahead.
‘It’s impossible. I don’t think there is anyone in the world that could tell you what is going to happen in December and what we’re going to be able to do.
‘We can all guess but with the coronavirus, it really is taking it week by week. We know what the winter brings in Ireland without the coronavirus. That would be one of my worries. There will be a lot more coughs and colds. I don’t want to even think that far ahead, be too pessimistic or too optimistic. We just have to take it week by week.
‘There’s no certainty. We can’t predict what two weeks will bring. It all depends on the numbers. Unfortunately, the numbers have been rising. If they continue to rise I’d be fearful that we’d end up going backwards a little bit.
‘You would be hopeful and you want sport to keep going but you have to be realistic too. Take it week by week and see where the numbers are going.’
For now, she is delighted to be back on the pitch herself. So did she have any concerns about going back, given her profession?
‘No. I didn’t think twice about it, once we got the go-ahead to go back. The public health felt it was safe enough because of the numbers in the community. I was just delighted that I was able to go back and see club mates I hadn’t seen for months. It’s such a big part of my life. Not having it for so many months, it felt
“We didn’t know what future held”
“You have to take it week by week”
like there was an emptiness there. ‘You just have to take it week by week. If the numbers were going up, maybe it would cause me to think again and reassess whether it is safe or not to keep going.’ And she says the club numbers attending training have never been higher. ‘We were lucky enough and talking to other clubs, the club numbers are probably the biggest they’ve ever been before because people haven’t gone away, they’re all at home. Unfortunately, with employment and part-time and full-time jobs that girls would get caught up with, they’re not really happening any more. We actually have the biggest numbers we’ve ever had. And that seems to be a nationwide thing as well, talking to other girls. ‘I met a few people down in Oranmore, older men from neighbouring clubs that I’d know. They are in their 40s, had retired, but they said “once it got the go ahead, I said I’d go back playing junior”. ‘It’s such a big part of us, the GAA. Not having it for so long just showed how much it meant. Everyone was delighted to get back form.’
She found it hard to get her head around reports of various men’s inter-county teams breaking the ban on collective training during lockdown, for obvious reasons. ‘I did hear the rumours of certain counties behind back, you would be disappointed because at the time we were in lockdown and by doing that people were putting each other’s health at risk, they were putting in some shape or their families lives at risk. I just didn’t think it was wise. Now I didn’t see it myself so I don’t know for definite, you hear the rumours.
If it was happening you’d be disappointed to hear it because at the time the advice was not to be meeting up in groups because of the risk.’
Even now, the rise in cases is a reminder of how fragile the games programme is for the rest of the year, club and county. ‘I don’t think we can plan too far ahead with sport. It’s absolutely brilliant that it’s back but if numbers are increasing, there is the potential of taking a step backwards. Unfortunately, that might mean sport gets curbed.
‘But just having it back… a couple of months ago it was looking very, very bleak. I definitely didn’t think after listening to John Horan on The Sunday Game that we were going to see any games back. Thankfully, because of the way the numbers were going, that it was low in the community, that they felt it was safe to bring back sport. It is brilliant to have it back.’
With camogie surfing such a high after a 2019 that saw Cormican’s Galway defeat Kilkenny in a thrilling AllIreland final, nobody could have foreseen the comedown of 2020. ‘When you have such a high of a year you just want to keep going and see where the wave brings you, so it was disappointing.
Especially in 2020 as well, it’s a real year for promoting women’s sport and the media coverage was super. We were planning for a big year for ladies sport but unfortunately the way it went it hasn’t turned out like that.
But when they announced the plans for the championship there is light at the end of the tunnel.’