GAA were told on Christmas Eve senior inter-county could continue

On December 31, legislation was introduced removing senior inter-county games from the list of level 5 exempted sports, a decision which was made without consulting the Nphet

Ard Stiúrthóir of the GAA Tom Ryan: Told on December 24 that games could continue. Picture: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile

The GAA were told as late as Christmas Eve last year that senior inter-county games could continue as Level 5 exempted sports activities.

In documents seen by the Irish Examiner following a Freedom of Information request, GAA director general Tom Ryan was informed by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport, and Media on December 24 last that senior inter-county games were permitted.

On December 31, legislation was introduced removing senior inter-county games from the list of Level 5 exempted sports, a decision which was made without consulting the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET).

On December 19, the GAA signed off on the 2021 master fixtures calendar with senior inter-county training resuming on January 15 and the National Leagues commencing on February 27.

On January 5, the GAA took the decision to postpone all activities until January 31 in the wake of the staggeringly high number of Covid-19 cases and deaths.

It was not until February 8 that then GAA president John Horan asked Minister of State for Sport Jack Chambers on a video conference call that the GAA were officially informed the inter-county had been removed from the list of Level 5 exemptions.

On December 22, in an email entitled “New Restrictions post Dec 27th”, Ryan sought clarification that the remainder of the U20 hurling and minor football and hurling championships could take place after Christmas.

The following day, the department’s principal officer for sports policy Peter Hogan responded that the department were “currently awaiting confirmation of the Government decision in respect of elite and professional sport”.

On Christmas Eve, Hogan wrote that the underage games could not go ahead.

“As was the case in the previous level 5 restrictions which were lifted at the beginning of the month, limited categories of elite and professional sports will be exempted from the restrictions on sporting events, training, and travel.

“The Government has decided that during the current restrictions this will be limited to adult athletes and teams only and competitive events.”

He continued: “I am sure this will be a disappointment to the under-age panels involved in inter-county competitions at present. It will regrettably be necessary to postpone scheduled fixtures for the duration of the current restrictions. The timing of these latest restrictions is most unfortunate, but the advice of NPHET to government was that swift decisive action was necessary to prevent the virus getting out of control.”

That morning, Ryan sought clarification about U20 being permitted as “this is an adult grade with adult players but eligibility is determined by age.”

Hogan replied that afternoon: “The Government decision is that it would be senior inter-county competition only at this time.”

Five days after the All-Ireland SFC football final which concluded the 2020 senior inter-county season, that advice would seem to be at odds with Chambers’ claim that senior inter-county GAA’s exemption expired following the Dublin-Mayo game.

“Once the Championship finished in December, as you know there was no fixtures scheduled at that point,” said Chambers last month. “There was also a very difficult Level 5 lockdown for the country so the regulations didn’t capture that because there was no fixtures in the current schedule. The concession concluded at the end of last year.”

After giving the green light for under-age and adult club training to resume in the North from April 12, the GAA’s Covid-19 advisory body were due to meet for a second time this week.

However, they are now expected to convene next week as NPHET have postponed their meeting where they are due to discuss easing of restrictions from Monday week.

The GAA hopes that under-age club and senior inter-county training can return from next month.

They have also underlined their senior official’s comments to the Irish Examiner on Tuesday that no decision has been made about a revised fixtures calendar.

In a letter to units on Wednesday, Ryan and GAA president Larry McCarthy wrote: “We would again reiterate that the GAA have not decided on what competitions may or may not be facilitated in any revised national fixture programme for 2021.

“As we have stated previously, such decisions will be a factor of how much time is ultimately available to us, both for an inter-county season and for the broader participation levels that will be necessary for a meaningful club season at both adult and underage levels.”