Following the acceleration of Ireland’s exit from the Covid-19 lockdown announced by Leo Varadkar yesterday, the GAA, in association with the Camogie Association and the LGFA, have amended a number of the guidelines in their “Safe Return for Gaelic Games”. For the coming week these are:
- Open pitches for adult training next Wednesday June 24th;
- Open for minor and all underage groups from Saturday, June 27th;
Re-opening of pitches is on the basis that training will be non-contact basis and on the understanding that players and other participants have completed the eLearning module and are following the control measures outlined in the “Safe Return for Gaelic Games” (health questionnaire, etc). Similarly, it is expected the current guidelines of a maximum of 15 players (10 in the six counties) in a designated area of the field are followed and coaching numbers for underage teams are consistent with the Code of Behaviour. From June 29th:
- contact training and challenge games will both be allowed in the 26 counties from Monday June 29th but guidance is still awaited from the Northern Ireland executive regarding Antrim, Armagh, Derry, Down, Fermanagh and Tyrone;
- restrictions on participants attending training session will be relaxed – subject to the government specified maximum of 200 people in club grounds;
- club fixtures are allowed from July 17th;
- dressing rooms will remain closed until July 20th. The Advisory Committee is considering the position of other GAA buildings – gyms, club bars, handball alleys etc. – and will provide further guidance in this regard next week.
Again all control measures for players, coaches and other team personnel (questionnaire etc) will remain in place until advised otherwise.
There is no change to the commencement dates for inter-county activities – training to recommence from September 14th and competitions from October 17th.
Click below for the the full GAA media statement.
By Sinéad Breen Donegal PRO Sat 20th Jun
