LIAM: IS SEASON WORTH RISK?
O’neill: Let’s not fool ourselves, sport is not the same, and we have to ask, is it worth it?
FORMER GAA president Liam O’neill says that a call needs to be made very soon on the inter-county season.
With crowds limited to 200 for at least another three weeks, the prospect of staging the Championships in front of large attendances this winter appears increasingly remote.
O’neill (above) said: “We need to have an open and honest discussion in the GAA of whether a Championship without crowds is justified.
“I hope this is done well in advance of September 14 before counties are training.”
AS the Government applies the brakes, the GAA must now move to bring clarity around the inter-county Championships, says former president Liam O’neill.
Tuesday’s announcement that crowds at outdoor gatherings would continue to be limited to 200 for at least another three weeks provided a “wake-up call” according to the Laois native (left), who held the GAA’S highest office from 2012-15.
O’neill was a voice of caution after the Covid-19 pandemic took hold in Ireland some months ago, advocating a safety-first approach in the early stages and suggesting that games should be shelved entirely for the year if they posed health risks.
He welcomes the fact that club fixtures have resumed with reasonable success of late, but notes: “I don’t know that we have got the clubs back as we really think we have. We’re playing the games but it’s not the same.
“Let’s not fool ourselves. This is not the same, this is different and we’re doing it fine and I’m glad it got back and I enjoyed going to the two games that I went to and I went to a practice match and I safely distanced.
“I spoke to people I hadn’t seen and that was nice but I came back home and shut the gate. So I was glad to go back home.”
He continues: “The messages from NPHET (National Public
Health Emergency Team) was that we’re not allowed to go to matches in more than 200 because we’re not to be trusted travelling safely to the games and getting ourselves home if there’s any more than 200.
“I get the fact that 200 limits the damage but the damage can still happen. I know that players are getting into cars and driving home together.
“I know that families are bringing children to summer camps and they’re not keeping to their own family units so it’s already happening and that strengthens the argument for keeping it to 200. At least you’re holding it to those numbers.”
Limiting crowds to 200 now suggests it’s unlikely people will be allowed to attend matches in their thousands at the back end of the year. Increasingly, it
appears as though the only option open to the GAA with regard to staging inter-county games in 2020 will be to effectively play them behind closed doors.
That’s a prospect that the Association’s leadership has repeatedly distanced itself from.
O’neill says: “It’s time for open discussions and really honest decisions.
“It appears now we’re not going to have crowds at inter-county games. So let’s examine the implications of that and say do we want that? Is it vital to our mental health to have it? Are we going to ask all these fellas to train for four weeks and get knocked out?
“And we’re going to train for four weeks for that? What proportion of the €30m that it cost last year (to train county teams) is going to be spent in that period of four to six weeks? Sport and health are inextricably linked. Would it not be sort of an irony if sport jeopardised health?
“We need to ask the right questions of NPHET, who seem to be making the decisions, and we need to get the answers and then we need to discuss it among ourselves and decide now.
“If we’re going to pull the plug, if we’re going to have to pull the plug on crowds, ask NPHET and those who have the information to tell us now. Give us the honest lowdown on that now.
“Then we need to have an open and honest discussion as stakeholders in the GAA of whether a Championship without crowds is justified.
“Then make a decision but I hope this is done and dusted as soon as possible, but well in advance of September 14 before teams are going back training.”
O’neill is reluctant to pin his colours to the mast on what decision the GAA should make without having all the information to hand himself, but offers: “My own view is that I’d be very slow to ask anybody to put themselves in danger for my entertainment behind closed doors.
“I’d want to know that the players themselves wanted to do it, not that we would ask them. There’s a huge difference and it boils down in the end to that.”