The GAA is confident that club activities are on target to meet the schedules of its revised calendar. That envisages provincial championships beginning in late November with finals concluding in January and the All-Ireland series in February.
Feargal McGill, director of games administration in Croke Park, said that he has become more optimistic.
“A couple of weeks ago I would have said that things look worse than they do now. I think teams were possibly in trouble for a while there but a lot has cleared up in the interim thanks to vaccinations and the fact that most players are now fully vaccinated.
“That provides a good protection against contracting Covid and also means that the HSE don’t consider someone a close contact. If that remains the case it will have a major impact on the club season.”
The deeming of close contacts had been a major disruption for club players a year ago when the county championship season took place over the summer. If vaccination continues to protect against that, club championships will be a lot easier to organise in the weeks ahead.
Close contacts
“With the level of vaccination out there and the rules on close contacts, I’d be confident subject to the usual proviso that none of us know what’s coming next. But right here, right now I’d be pretty optimistic. Most club championships are well underway and I haven’t heard of any major walkovers being granted.”
He says that the Government decisions on opening up will have a major influence on how club activities will unfold in the weeks ahead.
“The other big unknown is what the Government decide on Tuesday in their reopening plans. That affects things like the use of dressing-rooms and whether we can have committee meetings indoors etc. We’ll have to react to that and whereas we would probably get away until the end of September without dressing-rooms it becomes trickier in October and November.
“Balancing those concerns is the fact that schedules are quite advanced and the number of clubs actively involved begins to drop every week when knockout comes in to most counties during September.”
An unrelated matter is the GAA’s Special Congress to consider proposals for the reform of the football championship. It has been decided that an in-person congress would be more appropriate for a major decision such as this and rules on indoor gatherings are integral to that.
Pending a green light, October is the likely date.
