Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
50 in room for wedding is fine but 100 spread out at 4 acre site isn’t? Madness
ON the back of the new NPHET recommendations, the Irish Government instantly – without any consultation or proper detail – announced that all sporting events must be played behind closed doors.
The directive has stunned the GAA community to its core.
It’s outrageously stupid. A total farce.
“It makes absolutely no sense at all. On what grounds and with what proof could they make such a poor decision?
It’s hypocrisy in its purest form, when players are being asked to break these exact new guidelines.
If it’s so serious to people’s health and safety that only 15 people are allowed at an outdoor event, why on earth are they allowing 30 players to go hammer and tongs at each other in a match?
It makes no sense at all – why is the health and safety of Gaelic Footballers of any less importance than that of everyone else?
Just to illustrate how mad the whole thing is, players and clubs are only allowed
15 players to train
THERE are clubs understandably locking down everything, suspending all activities when a Covid case arises in the area. It isn’t the proper thing to do, together on a Tuesday and Friday night. But then they are allowed to play 15 against another 15 from a completely different jurisdiction on a Sunday.
Furthermore it’s OK for 50 people to attend a wedding in a small room, but it’s not OK to have 100 supporters spread out over four or five acres in a massive stadium. It defies all logic.
Why did the GAA not demand specific medical proof as to why such drastic action was needed?
They simply had to make that demand.
The Irish Government panicked and the GAA panicked – and if NPHET did provide overwhelming evidence to the GAA that the situation was that serious, then there was medical proof that our players’ health and safety are being put at risk.
County Boards and fans deserve an explanation. County Boards have killed themselves implementing safe guidelines and protocols to bring our Games to a safe place. For the rug then to be pulled from under them without any discussion or dialogue is heartbreaking.
The ruling is there until September 13 at the earliest – so including this weekend, that’s four championship weekends without any finance or income with anything from 20 to 40 championship games in any given county called off.
It’s somewhere in the region of a 20k to 30k loss on each weekend, so that’s 100k plus.
How can County Boards survive in those circumstances?
Yet what’s more shocking is that now we know our players health and safety is being totally compromised.