JUBILATION OF ALL-IRELAND SERIES MUST BE TEMPERED

TO THIEVE from and paraphrase the Bard of Stratford-Upon-Avon, we must celebrate “wisely but not too well” as a thrilling All-Ireland series brought joy and surprises in this Covid-19 time. The All-Ireland hurling final contestants are now designated after two thrilling and hard-fought games over the weekend. Waterford, who won their last All-Ireland back in 1959, will face Limerick, who have won but two titles in the past 47 years.

Cue epic and well-deserved celebrations whatever the outcome and destination of the storied Liam MacCarthy Cup in 2020. Add the total elation that we have such championships at all.

Then what have you got? Sadly, if people are not wise, we could be looking at mass tragedy in the making as Covid-19 again spikes.

The same may be said of the Gaelic football championship. Many will feel Dublin’s name is already engraved on the Sam Maguire for 2020.

But the three other football semi-finalists have been waiting a mighty long time for that august piece of silverware. Tipperary’s footballers last won an All-Ireland in 1918, Mayo famously are waiting since 1951, Cavan have been starved of success since 1952.

So, a football upset would set the stage for memorable celebrations, which could be very hard to contain in at least three counties. And let’s not forget that the Dubs have forgotten more about partying than most of us could forget after a good party.

Thus it was wise of the Health Minister, Stephen Donnelly, to remind us of what happened in September when county championship games drew to their high point. On that occasion, great teams celebrated a long-awaited success not wisely but too well.

These so-called “super-spreader occasions” came at a high price in the spread of illness and returned the nation to a harsh lockdown. Mr Donnelly has reminded us that a repeat of such things simply cannot be allowed to happen.

He has noted the exemplary behaviour of the GAA in this regard to date, and added the hope that they will act in relation to the All-Ireland inter-county celebrations. Such moves are all the more urgent since we are looking at the easing of the current lockdown coinciding with the delayed pinnacle of the GAA calendar.

Tomorrow’s lifting of the six-week lockdown is very welcome to most of us. But it also brings anxieties to those in the vulnerable health categories, such as the elderly and those with underlying health conditions.

Those of us blessed with rude good health should take account of these groups’ anxieties and also not be unduly arrogant about our own good health. Let us all take care and do some thinking about what we are facing into and what we should have learned from the last easing of restrictions which sadly brought us back to square one.

But after the difficult year we have all endured, we are also entitled to a small sense of satisfaction. The Covid-19 threat persists but we have made the most progress of any other European country in tackling it since early October.

We have to learn from the last easing of restrictions