Wexford GAA deny players gave names of Clare close contacts

On the Irish Examiner GAA podcast, Anthony Daly said the designation of two Clare players as close contacts “sets a dangerous precedent”

Clare Players warming-up prior to the game at Cusack Park. Two unnamed Wexford players tested positive for Covid-19 subsequently, and two unnamed Clare players were deemed close contacts.  Picture: INPHO/Bryan Keane

The two Wexford hurlers who last week tested positive for Covid-19 did not give the names of the two Clare players subsequently identified as close contacts to HSE contact tracing personnel, Wexford GAA has said.

Wexford’s insistence that the two Covid positive players did not identify any Clare hurler when dealing with contact tracing personnel leaves unanswered the question of how the two Banner players came onto the radar of public health experts and their subsequent designation as close contacts.

An Irish Examiner request to the Department of Public Health South-East to speak with a public health specialist regarding the contact tracing process undertaken went unreturned on Monday.

Wexford GAA chairman Micheál Martin, when rejecting on South East Radio the “factually inaccurate” comments of Clare manager Brian Lohan that the two Wexford players had nominated as close contacts two Clare opponents following the May 16 league game between the counties, alluded to a minor match between Galway and Clare last year where public health officials designated certain players as close contacts off the back of video footage of the game.

When asked by the Irish Examiner Monday evening if the two Wexford players gave the names of the two Clare players when contacted by contact tracing personnel following their respective positive test results, Wexford chairman Martin replied: “No.”

And when asked if the two players gave the names of any of their Wexford team-mates to contact tracing personnel, Martin said he and the county’s Covid officer “liaised with HSE from Tuesday with full details of all panel members. HSE contact tracing with players also took place”.

One of the Clare hurlers identified as a close contact was on the Cusack Park pitch with one of the two Wexford players in question for a total of 19 minutes during the league game in Ennis the Sunday before last.

“It is a difficult one to understand. We saw the picture of the [Wexford] team huddle, just that two Clare players were mentioned is a bonkers story. It just didn’t make any sense how it happened to be two Clare players,” former Limerick manager TJ Ryan remarked on the Irish Examiner GAA podcast.

On the same podcast, Anthony Daly said the designation of two Clare players as close contacts “sets a dangerous precedent” ahead of the return of club games on June 7.

Professor Mary Horgan, a member of the GAA’s Covid Advisory committee, said players being identified as a close contact as a result of on-field activity “has not been a major issue at all within the GAA” and there is nothing to suggest this will change going forward.

Horgan revealed that just six players, from across 30,000 GAA games over the past 10 months, had been designated as close contacts as a result of on-field activity.

The president of the Royal College of Physicians said the HSE is in no way led by the GAA’s Covid-19 guidelines when determining whether a player is a close or casual contact of a Covid-19 positive opponent. She did add, however, that adherence to the GAA’s Covid-19 guidelines “hugely reduces your risk of being classified as a close contact”.

“We’ve put in place the advice to help reduce the risk of being designated a close contact, but ultimately it is the HSE that decide on a case-by-case basis,” Horgan told the Irish Examiner.

“The experience so far for all of the outdoor sports — rugby, soccer, and GAA — is that the risk of your on-field activity being considered a close contact is extremely low. As with everything when it comes to life, there is never a zero risk, but there is a huge reduction in the risk of being considered a close contact if guidelines are adhered to. And they are being adhered to.”

Following Clare’s League win over Laois on Sunday, Brian Lohan told RTÉ he found it “unusual” two of his players had been identified as close rather than casual contacts of two Wexford opponents following their league meeting.

“It was very unusual for us to hear that two of our players were nominated by two Wexford players as close contacts, particularly given that one of those players only came on in the 51st minute and he nominated one of our players.

“Certainly there was a whole lot of anger amongst our set-up as a result of what happened.”

Wexford chairman Micheál Martin termed the comments made by Lohan as “ill-informed” and “outrageous”.

Martin told South East Radio it was “public health”, not the two Wexford players in question, who designated the Clare pair as close contacts.

“I am not sure what is going on in relation to Brian Lohan’s comments other than to say they are completely and factually inaccurate, incorrect, and very disappointed to have to address them. I would think they are ill-informed. Quite frankly, I think they are outrageous comments by Brian Lohan.

“It has been made clear at all times both by HSE Midwest to Clare, as far as I am aware, and directly via myself to my counterpart in Clare that at no time did Wexford GAA or players of Wexford nominate close contacts. The comments are inaccurate and are quite hurtful to the players involved.”

The Model County chairman called on Lohan to retract his remarks.

A Clare GAA statement issued prior to Martin’s South East Radio interview, had sought to cool tensions with their Wexford counterparts.

The statement said the two Clare players have to isolate for 10 days from notification and wished the Wexford players a speedy recovery.

No new date has yet been set for the postponed Kilkenny-Wexford Allianz Hurling League fixture that did not go ahead on Sunday last because of confirmation of a third Wexford player testing positive for the virus.

“CCCC are continuing to liaise with the HSE in this context and will provide clarity on the fixture as soon as possible,” said Croke Park on Monday.