IN ALL FAIRNESS - Outdoor limits are too strict
In a previous volunteer capacity I was a GAA club secretary for seven years but boy am I glad I am not in such a position at the moment with all the work that has been required to get teams ready to return to play in the safest way possible.
And just when it looked like all that work had paid off, clubs were handed another weight in the form of determining who gets the small handful of tickets available for club championship games after the government decided not to proceed to phase 4 of he lifting of restriction this week. It has meant that a maximum of 200 people will be able to attend club hurling championship games next weekend and for the following two weekends up to August 10th, well below the demand from those that would like to attend.
Last weekend’s football games allowed Tipperary County Board to get their feet wet in terms of getting used to implementing the new cashless/all ticket procedures and all reports indicate it worked pretty well but the pressure will come on this weekend as more people will want to see hurling games in the county.
The county board can do nothing more than to comply with the government regulations and it is unlikely they will be changed in the meantime as if lee-way is given to any aspect of phase 4 to be reopened ahead of others, you’ll have the sectors such as the pubs screaming as to why they have been left behind again.
The pubs have been hard done by in the delayed reopening as they would play a part in thinning out gatherings in restaurants and pubs that serve food in cities, towns, and villages around the country. It would have also helped reduce the instances of large gatherings in house parties as pubs can be regulated when private parties cannot.
In terms of outdoor social gatherings, what difference is there between busy beaches last weekend where there were thousands of people to GAA pitches being able to host supporters of 500 people? It makes no sense for the outdoor limit of 200 for sporting events to remain for the next three weeks considering these venues can be regulated and are much more secure than busy beaches and parks.
You only had to see Wexford Park and Parnell Park last weekend for the club hurling championship games in Wexford and Dublin and how surreal it was to have such small crowds in large venues.
We got a taste of it in Tipperary last weekend when the minor hurling championships got underway in the North division. At games I was at in both Puckane and Nenagh, there were more than 200 people at both because it isn’t possible for either the North Board or the host clubs to police it properly. Who wants to be the club chairman or the head gate-checker at those venues when the 200 limit is reached and then has to close the gate on those still outside, you are asking for trouble!
In that respect the North Board and the host clubs did the most they could realistically and did it pretty well. In both venues, people were well scattered throughout the grounds and were primarily sitting or standing in their own groups and adhering to social distancing measures as best they could.
Having more venues open also gives people more options in terms of spending part of their day. If each of the next weekend is good weather-wise, where would be safer, a 500-1000 capacity sports event or thousands on a beach in Lahinch?
The government and NPHET are making decisions in our best interests and I fully understand that, but the one-size fits all approach is not the right way of going about this. If the churches were given special dispensation to allow more than 50 people indoors depending on the size of the church, why can’t sports do that in their venues.
In Tipperary, it would allow the county board to set the limits on their venues and put the higher profile games into Semple Stadium where they could admit one thousand people safely and allow as many people as possible to get to games.
Instead, what you will have this weekend is some people finding alternative ways to get into venues without tickets. You’d have the railway bridge in Holycross likely to be a popular spot for the Thurles Sarsfields v Kilruane MacDonaghs game, the pitch & putt course in Templemore being accessed for the Roscrea v Drom & Inch game, or the best of the lot, people parking on the side of the road in Kilcolman to watch the Templederry v Silvermines game on Friday evening.
No sporting organisation or politician can be seen to be too strong in questioning the government on their decision considering nearly 1,600 people have lost their lives due to Covid-19 but allowing venues to host more people would surely be safer than people gathering in groups in houses watching live-streaming of games on their laptops or phones.