LAST UPDATE | 24 Aug 2020
THE TAOISEACH BELIEVES that last week’s decision to move all sporting events behind closed doors have kept hopes alive of the GAA championship taking place this year.
Micheál Martin, speaking on RTÉ Radio One this morning on Today with Claire Byrne, has reiterated that the Government want the GAA inter-county competitions to go ahead as per their schedule mid-October date.
Recent rising numbers of Covid-19 cases and last week’s decision on spectators have raised fresh doubts over the inter-county season taking place.
But the Taoiseach has expressed his desire for them to take place and other sporting events to proceed, describing them as symbols ‘that the country is fighting this virus’.
“We want the championship to go ahead. I want an All-Ireland this year because I think it would be a symbol that the country is fighting this virus. That it’s not going to surrender to it and I’d love to see the championship completed. Like all games, League Of Ireland, the whole lot, rugby.
“There’s another way of saying this by the way, in taking the decision we did on the crowds, we saved the championships and the leagues.
“It’s a challenge but to me it speaks to us as a nation if we can make sure that we can organise our sports. I’ve met the CMO, I just want to let people know, he’s as passionate a sports person as the rest of you out there. He wants to keep things going, he thinks it’s important for the health of the young people in the country that they’re out there training and they’re out there playing games.”
The Taoiseach is aware of the ‘real anger’ in sporting organisations around the country at last Tuesday’s announcement which will prohibit fans from attending until 13 September.
But he reiterated that Chief Medical Officer Ronan Glynn has explained the rationale behind NPHET’s recommendation and stated that the CMO is to meet the leaders of sporting organsations.
“My sons are playing Gaelic football, I’d love to go see a match. That caused real anger across the country. I know it (GAA) doesn’t (get it), my own club-mates don’t get it, every sports person across the country doesn’t get it.
“I think we got that information from Ronan Glynn. Sometimes when we say we need more information, we just don’t like the decision.
“I take the point, we were being told by public health if you’re outdoors it’s better than being indoors, I get that point and I understand why people are correctly asking us questions.
“Ronan Glynn made it very clear to me that he felt the going to the match and the leaving of a match, people coming from different households, people congregating, mixing is the problem. So what the overall attempt was, let’s reduce the numbers of people gathering in large numbers everywhere.
“He will meet with sporting organisations, he has agreed to meet with the GAA for example in relation to this because he’s passionate.”
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