DECLAN BOGUE ON ROADMAP DILEMMA FOR GAA
AT last, some optimism regarding the projected dates for society re-opening from the tyranny of coronavirus. It might be in dribs and drabs, but if schools are bringing pupils back on March 8 and outdoor sports resume at that same time for children, then it will come as a relief like none other for hard-pressed parents.
It’s been a drag for them, as it has for others, sure, but concepts of home-schooling and being confined to barracks have hit home when children have been denied the freedoms that we take for granted in western society.
Go to any play park at the weekend and it is full of children jumping and climbing, touching the same surfaces. All the while, parents and grandparents grumble on in conflab with others.
Contrary to the more doom-laden forecasts that seem the universal tone of the Republic of Ireland media, there are dissenting voices. Professor Mark Woolhouse of Edinburgh University said recently that sport for children should open straight away.
“The government has said the country’s exit from lockdown should be data-driven. Well, the data is extremely good, far better than anyone, including me, anticipated two or three weeks ago,” said Woolhouse.
“Hospitalisations, deaths and case numbers have all plunged while vaccinations have already reached a quarter of the adult population.
“The corollary is that if we plan to ease lockdown in a data-driven way, we should right now be looking at starting the process of coming out of lockdown earlier than we were thinking about two or three weeks ago. The data drive has to go both ways.”
Case studies have a huge sample size by now, so it is encouraging to learn that the cases of outside infections are extremely low.
“Studies suggest that one in 100 is a high figure. Others suggest it is more like one in 1,000 or one in 10,000,” said Woolhouse.
Last summer, the GAA managed to run no fewer than 900 Kelloggs Cúl Camps for young children to come together to play Gaelic games. In total, over 71,000 children availed of the services. Out of all that, only one individual withdrew, but through contact tracing it was established that infection occurred at another event.
All that evidence will make parents and guardians confident in sending children back out into the world again, while vaccines are making short work of Covid. The sense out there is that parents have experienced heartbreaking frustration from watching children withdraw into themselves, missing their friends and an entire year’s worth of education and college life.
There is much fine talk of families spending time together and enjoying it. Good for them. In my own personal experience, and those of young families around me, there’s been a general despair and watching children become over-reliant on screen-time and devices.
There have been calls all along to open up sports for children. Some journalists have been well-meaning in campaigning for it and have sought the opinions of people both in grassroots and academic environments.
We do not say they are wrong, and would acknowledge their work. However, the blanket media coverage has created an environment of fear among many parents.
That fear itself may be irrational, but it is very real to those that experience it. Their own experiences, if they have contracted Covid themselves or lost relatives and friends to it, will make them terrified.
The moment that children are gathered in fields on a Saturday morning playing sports, there will be groups of over-caffeinated parents standing in groups on the sidelines, treating it all like the closing down parties in Ibiza.
Right now in this corner of the world, the success of the UK vaccination programme has created a remarkable schism in society. From figures published on February 19, 23.3 per cent of the population in Northern Ireland have received one dose of a vaccine, compared with just 3.8 per cent of those in the Republic of Ireland.
You are almost 10 times more likely to have been offered a dose if you live in Belleek, rather than Ballyshannon.
Sometime in the coming weeks, a critical mass will be reached in Northern Ireland. It creates a philosophical headache for the GAA. In a body that operates on an all-ireland basis, can the GAA forbid clubs and counties north of the border from training and playing away — even up to senior level — until vaccination figures in the Republic significantly catch up?
The entire argument is, of course, an ecumenical matter, but the pressure to make that decision will fall on the figurehead of Ulster GAA, Brian Mcavoy.
He does not find himself in an envious position, that’s for certain.
The GAA at central level could be clever and give him a level of autonomy here.
Or they could be totally painted into a corner by one factor that holds the authority on everything under the sun: insurance.
‘In this corner of the world, the success of the UK vaccination programme has created a schism’