Irish Examiner view: A minefield to navigate

What form would punishment for a positive drug test result take? Would sanctions be confined to the games and competitions concerned, or would there have to be legal consequences in the case of athletes with illegal drugs in their systems?

The availability of illegal drugs in Irish society lurks behind a huge amount of the crime in the country, something confirmed by a glance at the court reports in this newspaper.

However, an interesting proposal related to the drugs problem surfaced this week in the sports pages. Drom & Inch GAA club in Tipperary has proposed that drug testing should be extended from inter county players to the club level, a proposal which comes hot on the heels of another GAA club suggestion — Laois outfit Rathdowney-Erril’s proposal that players be barred from playing adult championship games if they have not engaged in drug and gambling addiction and anti-doping awareness.