Vaccine priority for Olympians is ruled out

MINISTER of State for Sport Jack Chambers has ruled out Ireland’s Olympic athletes being prioritised for vaccines ahead of the Tokyo Games this July. He said the Government intends sticking to the agebased plan for the vaccine rollout. ‘I know there have been different responses to this across different countries,’ he said, speaking on Newstalk. ‘There has been a message from the IOC that Olympians should follow the national sequencing as it’s set out by each member state or by each nation themselves. ’We’ve obviously got an age-based sequencing now that is transparent and fair and based on the overall risk that age represents and that’s how we’ve decided to pursue vaccination right now. ‘In fairness, certainly the international message from the Olympic Federation has been that the organisations within countries should follow the national sequence. ‘I think that’s important so we maintain the integrity around vaccination.’ In a wideranging interview, he also said that he was determined to address the disparity in Government grant funding for Gaelic games between female inter-county players (€700,000) and male inter-county players (€3 million). ‘We had a lot of negative publicity last year on

the disparity between what the WGPA and GPA receive and the huge difference between what players receive. From my perspective, I can’t stand over that. ‘All girls playing sport today need to know that the State and the governing bodies that represent their sport are serious about equality, about participation and about there being no glass ceiling in sport. ‘In the 21st century in Ireland, we have to ensure sport policy promotes that in a very positive way. And I’m determined to follow through on that in every way I can.’ With youth sport still not allowed until April 26, and no date for adult club activity, he defended the current situation and made promising noises about a speedy return at adult level. ‘NPHET’s advice was that actually it would come back in May for under-13s so we’ve moved quicker than that in what we’ve done. ‘I recognise the absolute importance for physical and mental health that we get sport and activity restored as quickly as possible. ‘And I’ll be doing everything I can for young adults and the broader system return, that we can get as many people back who potentially missed out over the last 12 months.’ He also said that the GAA would have to look at higher sanctions than a 12-week ban if another team was found to have breached collective training guidelines this week before the official resumption on Monday after the high profile cases involving All-Ireland football champions Dublin and Ulster side Monaghan. ‘I think at this point, if there was a team, say for example, training this week in advance of them being allowed to train next Monday when there has been a clear message sent from everybody that what happened previously with the two instances was completely unacceptable, I think there would have to be a higher bar, particularly with the clear message that has been sent to everyone. ‘And I think Croke Park would have to see that through.’ Ahead of that inter-county resumption on Monday, the GAA has issued updated guidelines allowing for three sessions per week, though clarity from Government is still needed around challenge games and official match-day panel numbers.

The return to training document states that county gyms can now be opened for county panellists while inter-county players can also use their relevant club gym for individual training.