TESTING TIME FOR EVEYONE
Clare hero Bugler knows people are the priority as he embraces technology in bid to help students
THERE’S a reason Brendan Bugler wants to talk about the bigger picture. Why sport has to be kept in perspective right now. The two-time All-Star and All-Ireland winner with Clare in 2013 is involved as a coach with Davy Fitzgerald’s Wexford this season. He is hoping that the country rights itself to the extent that some semblance of normality returns and that the championship can take place, and Wexford’s league quarter-final against Galway can be fitted in at a later date.
But, like so many others, the societal impact of the coronavirus means that priorities have shifted.
His wife works as a nurse in Ennis Hospital, where preparations are being made for any surge in diagnosed cases. Brendan is a teacher at St Flannan’s, so the school closures mean he is juggling minding two young kids at home with live-streaming classes to help students keep their studies on track.
‘Every teacher is different and their level of IT is different,’ he explains. ‘I’m fortunate that I have a few bits and bobs here that is allowing me to stream classes live, particularly with the likes of the third years and fifth years.
‘It’s important from a teacher’s point of view as well not to overload on the amount of work the teachers will be getting. You have to be realistic.’
For so many students across the country, the impact on the Leaving Certificate is a worry right now, and he has some pointers for those trying to keep on track.
‘First and foremost, being a Leaving Cert student, I think routine is really important. It’s not the summer holidays, it’s not the Easter holidays. School is still in play. Have th at routine, get up in the morning, have the breakfast and be ready to go at nine.
‘In St Flannan’s we encouraged the students to stick to routine. That whatever subject they were meant to have at a certain time, to stick to that. For example, Wednesday morning, from 9am to 9.40, to go over the relevant subject.
‘There’s quite a few of the teachers streaming our classes live to fit with the time we’d normally have the class – that’s when we’d be going live. That was the kind of message we tried to hit home when we knew the closure was coming.’
On the first Sunday of this month he was involved with the St Flannan’s team that won a first Harty Cup in 15 years, beating CBC Cork to wild scenes of jubilation.
‘It’s crazy. It was an unbelievable time for the school, the first win in 15 years. There was such a feel-good factor around the place, such a buzz around the school. We got massive support.
‘We were lucky in a way that the Harty final got played at all because it was postponed due to weather and could have been postponed again. Then we played [St] Kieran’s the following week before the whole thing shut down. It’s incredible that we’re going from such a high to now and these crazy times.’
It has been warming, though, to see such support for the healthcare workers and those on front-line services in recent weeks as Ireland responded to the pandemic, particularly given the nature of his wife’s job.
‘I think the government has done a fantastic job in extremely difficult circumstances. Herself is a nurse in Ennis and there are going to be tough days ahead – she’s prepared for that.
‘All you can do is take your hat off to those people who are in that situation. Give credit where credit is due. It is tough because it hasn’t really started yet. But they’re preparing as best they can. She’s manager of a ward there and they are preparing meticulously. They know what’s coming down the line and they’re just going to deal with it the very best they can.’
It’s why he can’t overstate the message of the general public following all the official guidelines and doing their bit.
‘It frustrates me bigtime when you see the carry-on last weekend and people not adhering to social distancing and the guidelines issued by the HSE.
‘I’m thinking of my parents and elderly people and those who are most vulnerable, people with underlying conditions like cystic fibrosis. It’s just unbelievably frustrating.’
To that end, positive initiatives have been activated, with GAA players helping to spread the message. Bugler took part in the ‘Pass the sliotar, not the virus,’ challenge in aid of Cystic Fibrosis Ireland and there has been lots of support for the ‘Do it for Dan’ campaign to help the young son of Niall and Aisling Donoher, who was born with a rare neuromuscular condition. ‘At the end of the day we’re one big family. We all have that interest, that love, of the games, be it football, handball, hurling. It’s important that we row in behind each other, like the “Do it for Dan” campaign which is a very, very sad story in Laois. ‘Then you’ve Cian Galvin setting up a little bit of a fundraiser – ‘Pass the sliotar, not the virus’ – to help people with Cystic Fibrosis and help Cystic Fibrosis Ireland. Social media sometimes gets an awful lot of stick but I think we’ve seen in the past week an awful lot of positive stuff in relation to those campaigns.’
His old Clare team-mate Paul Flanagan got a huge response when he offered to run free online Irish grinds for second-level students. ‘That’s Paul. He’s a fantastic individual. He’s always done that all his life.
‘He put himself out there to help people and it just happened that the school doors were closed.’
Then, there’s the question of hurling. Whatever shape the championship takes – if it happens at all – Bugler says all interested parties will just get on with it.
‘We just hope that we come through this and we don’t end up like with what happened in Italy, which is horrific. For a country to get over that, it would take an
awful lot of resources and years. We don’t want to get to that stage. That’s the most important thing at this stage, the health and safety of people, the elderly in particular and those with underlying conditions.
‘If it’s knockout championship – yeah, every team will be ready for knockout.’
He hopes too that the hurling league will be played to completion, rather than shelved.
‘It’s a national competition. It’s a competition a lot of teams have trained really, really hard for, like the championship. It would be a shame to not complete it.
‘We’ll just have to play it by ear. The health and safety of everyone has to come first. Whenever we do get the all-clear, if there is time to play it at the tail-end of the year, why not?’ Right now though, that all seems like a long way away.