Quarter of Cork GAA clubs rule out Cúl Camps
Almost a quarter of Cork GAA clubs who ran a Cúl Camp in 2019 will not be doing so this summer.
Although Croke Park remains “hopeful” Cúl Camps will be staged this summer and are in the process of finalising a roadmap for how camps can take place nationwide, an increasing number of Cork clubs have pulled the plug on their camp.
In Cork, the annual Cúl Camps are organised and run by the clubs themselves, rather than the county board, and so the final decision as to whether a camp goes ahead at a particular club lies with that club.
In 2019, 122 camps took place in the county, attracting up to 20,000 children between the ages of six and 13. Thirty clubs have stated they won’t be proceeding with a camp this year.
Those clubs who have cancelled their 2020 Cúl Camp have been informed by officials they can reverse their decision if Croke Park gives the green light for camps to take place in late July and throughout August.
"If the authorities can tell us it is safe to go ahead with them, we will do it. The Cúl Camps are a huge element of everyone’s summer and it would be lovely to think we could get them undertaken," said GAA director general Tom Ryan last week.
Kerry County Board chairman Tim Murphy told the Irish Examiner earlier this week “there is a huge appetite for Cúl Camps to resume in our county”.
While there has been speculation as to some of the restrictions that might be in place were camps to go ahead, no official guidelines have yet been handed down by Croke Park.
The Cork clubs who have opted not to run a Cúl Camp in 2020 are Aghada, Ballinascarthy, Ballincollig, Ballinhassig, Bantry Blues, Barryroe, Bere Island, Bishopstown, Buttevant, Castlehaven, Croke Rovers, Courcey Rovers, Doneraile, Éire Óg, Kilmurry, Kilmacabea, Kilmeen, Kinsale, Kiltha Óg, Knocknagree, Macroom, Millstreet, Mitchelstown/Ballygiblin, Newmarket, O’Donovan Rossa, Sam Maguire, Sliabh Rua, St Colums, St James’, and Urhan.
