“We Need To Be Covid Compliant Before We Even Think About Resuming Games”

A former Clare intercounty referee has issued a warning that the GAA in the county must do more to adhere to Covid-19 guidelines before any on field activity resumes.

Corofin’s Ambrose Heagney, who was part of the Covid committee for Clare GAA in 2020, made the remarks at this week’s county board meeting during a discussion around the structures for the U-19, U-20 and U-21 grades.

He stated his club would love to see both an U-19 and U-21 championship played, but felt that with the timeframe available it would simply not be possible. He said more needs to be done to ensure that all guidelines around Covid-19 are met.

“The first committee I got involved with was last year on the Covid committee. Most of the clubs were Covid compliant but there a number who were not. I think that is the first thing we need to do. We need to get every club Covid compliant. Even in Cusack Park, we need to get spectators social distancing and get the regulations right. That includes at the gate and the entrances and the stewarding, everything around Covid. In some clubs, it was very poor to say the least and we need to get that right before we discuss any competitions. Yes, we will have some competitions but I don’t think we will be able to have as many as we would like to. It would be lovely if we were able to but I don’t think it will be possible this year. This pandemic is not going away and numbers are still quite high so don’t think we should make any decision tonight about U-19 and U-21. It would be lovely if we could play both but I don’t think we will be able to” he noted.