Credit to the G.A.A. for prioritising the health of its players

IWOULD happily crawl backwards to Donegal, in the middle of a hailstorm, just to see a live hurling or football game at this stage of the ongoing pandemic. And I’m sure I’d have plenty of company on my journey, but it’s not about me and my desires, and it’s not about you either, dear reader.

Who wouldn’t love to relax and enjoy a bit of competitive sporting action at this moment in time?

I’ve heard this phrase over and over again through the years, usually at the finish of a particularly memorable game or championship: ‘What on earth would we do without the matches?’

It’s a question none of us ever expected we would have to answer, and I’ve no doubt some are coping better than others.

All of us need our ‘off’ switch, and if music or reading is your favourite form of relaxation, then the current crisis can be turned into a positive; as a window of opportunity, with even more time to devote to your passion.

Sports enthusiasts don’t have that luxury, and there’s only so much nostalgia any individual can devour before developing a serious craving for some of the ‘real thing’.

And yet, for all that, I believe that the wisest course of action to take - unless there’s a medical breakthrough well ahead of schedule - is to forget about any G.A.A. activity for the rest of this year.

All of us take ownership of our players when they’re lining out on the field for our county or club.

For that 70 or 60 minutes, we regard them as ours, and we either rejoice in their achievements or criticise them (often harshly) for their perceived failings.

However, up to now, did we ever give any thought to their living arrangements, or their personal lives? I think it’s none of my business even though I report on their matches for a living, and amateurs don’t deserve such scrutiny.

Having said that, consider an average inter-county dressing-room for a moment. I’m sure there’s players with elderly parents, or perhaps a grandparent who is living with them.

There could be someone in the household with an underlying medical issue, perhaps a vulnerable younger sibling with a complaint that is manageable under normal circumstances.

It will be similar on the club front, although it’s easier to be aware of the individual difficulties there because the seed, breed and generation of most players will be generally well known.

Those hurlers and footballers who provide so much entertainment are no different to the rest of us, so putting their own families at risk cannot, and should not, ever be contemplated.

And that’s why I was so impressed with the clarity deployed by the President, John Horan, on television last Sunday night.

It’s quite simple: for as long as social distancing has to be observed, there will be no hurling or football matches.

I wish that didn’t have to be the case, but I took immense comfort from the fact that the G.A.A. values its players sufficiently to put their safety above everything else.

I worked briefly with Horan - maybe 20 years ago, or even longer - on a Leinster football development committee when he represented Dublin and I was travelling to Portlaoise on behalf of Wexford.

If I’m honest, he didn’t strike me at the time as a potential President, chiefly because he was always very straight, down to earth, matter of fact, and with no airs or graces.

For those reasons, I didn’t think he would be capable of playing the politics sometimes required to navigate the murkier waters of G.A.A. officialdom. However, he really hit the nail on the head last Sunday, simply by showing those self-same qualities I had detected all those years ago.

There was no sugar-coating or bull, and he didn’t play to the populists in the gallery. He gave it to the G.A.A. membership straight, and now they know.

And that was badly needed, especially after that cringe-worthy television exchange between Ryan Tubridy and Leo Varadkar nine days earlier, when false hope was given when it didn’t exist.

Now the G.A.A. leader has spoken, and everybody knows the score exactly, whether we like it or not.

It was Horan’s finest half-hour yet in his presidency.