Further games to be postponed. Photo
Credit;stock photo
tomorrow it will be two weeks since GAA, LGFA, and camogie association decided to suspend all games and training until March 29th, however it has been extended and we talk to representatives from all three organizations to see if it has worked two weeks on.
The gates are shut. photo credit; Irish examiner
GAA Zone Spoke to the Inishowen GAA chairman Gerrard Callaghan about their response to Covid 19 two weeks on. The Burt native said: “As you see on Facebook of each club, trying to keep people busy with old photos, skill challenges and advising everyone to be cautious about spreading the virus.”
Multiple GAA Clubs have been posting different coronavirus related information on their social media.
Diffrent training has been sorted. Photo Credit;
Sky Sports
The Covid 19 Wuhan Coronavirus pandemic has been unexpected by many. Callaghan said: “No one could ever have predicted such times.”. The Coronavirus now has over 1,000 cases in the Republic of Ireland. There are now big questions about when games will resume. The Inishowen GAA representative claimed,: “No one can say, but it could be quite a long time, with a restricted program for what will be left of 2020”.The GAA has not announced the national league has been postponed. However, if a player wants to train individually using their club’s pitches, insurance will not cover them. Mr.Callaghan outlined that “All clubs were informed by Croke Park, nothing to do with us locally.”
Croke Park had it's say. Photo Credit; Tom Grealy
Many people involved with the GAA in the Inishowen are wondering about local club competitions.
Gerrard Callaghan had proposed that: We will probably have to (shorten), at least some of them may have to be played as a knockout”.
This
also applies to the LGFA. Photo Credit; RTE
Straight knockout has also been proposed for senior hurling and football inter-county championships. GAA Zone also caught up with the Donegal LGFA secretary Michelle McKenna.
LGFA is the governing body for
Ladies Gaelic Football. Photo Credit;Bryan Keane
McKenna says: “thank god all our measures are working well so far”.Training and matches have been canceled until further notice. The Ladies Gaelic Football Association has made all the national leagues Null and Void. Michelle McKenna talked from the Donegal camp saying ” the girls were really looking forward to their next few games, they had really done good against Cork and we were working hard and it was starting to come together for us, the group was growing in confidence, I was at the last few games and to see the girls improving at each game was down to their hard work at training and commitment to the group under manager Maxi Curran, they were really going to give the next few games a good run.
The
2001 season was halted on a tempory basis due to the foot and mouth
disease. Photo credit; Andrew Paton
But as things stand now we just have to accept the guidelines under Croke Park and hopefully, we all stick together as a county and country in fighting this virus and hopefully, we will be back to play championship football”. The LGFA has said it would make a decision on the championship in due course. Michelle McKenna took the role of Donegal LGFA secretary in early 2020. The Buncrana GAA Club woman said: “never expect anything like this, it’s a shock to everyone, we are lost without our football, meetings, planning, and all the traveling to games, etc it’s just such a big loss, but we have to remain positive that we will come back stronger than ever and we all survive this time of been apart and to maybe spend the time planning on what next and we will video conference in the next week or so and make plans on different scenarios in the county, depending on how long we are out, we are no different to other counties, we will have to pull together help our clubs all 37 of them in Donegal and we are there to support them and assist them at this very trying times that we are going through, our county and ulster coaches along with club coaches are sending out drills and challenges for girls to do at home, all they need is a ball and a wall.”
Croke Park will give the go ahead when it
is ok. Photo credit;Sam Barnes
Video conference calls have become more popular during the covid-19 Wuhan coronavirus outbreak. Questions have been asked of different ladies’ football club championships in Donegal. The Donegal LGFA secretary has outlined: “We will decide what we do next when we have our conference video call, we will plan different ideas, few ideas coming in from clubs, at the minute we let things sit and we will chat as an executive at the county level and follow guidelines from Croke Park and ulster and come up then with a plan, hopefully by that time we are well over this ordeal, but for now our members, their families, and neighbors are the most important, getting them all through this virus now is our priority, sometimes our members might ring, only for a chat someone wants reassurance, some of our young members are frightened and parents contact us to ask for a distraction, Ciaran Murtagh from Ulster coaching been sending out stuff and Croke Park been sending out colorings, etc and different drills, etc.
So if the championship happens it does and if it doesn’t we will all survive and come back next year but am been very positive we will be playing championship this year.
Kildare V Carlow in the 2019 championship. Photo Credit; Leinster
Leader
please God, and Donegal ladies will win the All Ireland”. The Donegal senior ladies will be aiming for four Ulster championships in a row.
Other Sports have the same treatment. Photo Credit; Seb Daly
Questions have been asked if the GAA and its insurance policy will also apply to ladies.
Training on club grounds will not be covered by insurance. Photo Credit;
RTÉ
The former Fine Gael local election candidate made it clear that: ” insurance will not cover anyone on clubs grounds as all activity is canceled that why all clubs had to close their gates”.
There have been calls from former Donegal footballer Darrach O’Conner to have pitches open.
GAA Zone was speaking to the chairperson of the Derry camogie board Dympna Dougan.about Covid-19.
Dougan said: “Well there is nothing happening so there is nothing to say.” On the 29th of March, the government in the Republic of Ireland banned all mass gatherings but the GAA, LGFA and camogie association decided to ban all games and training on an all Island basis. However, while football and hurling games and training were postponed last week, the schools were still open and classes were running as normal in Northern Ireland. The Derry camogie chairperson said, “It’s hard to get your head around that there were no matches or training going ahead but the schools were still going on”.
That was changed as the British government announced that all schools closed last Friday until further notice. Many camogie players would need to be made aware of the insurance policies if they use the pitches for individual practice. The Maghera woman claimed: “I don’t know what the insurance situation is, to be honest, but I know all the pitches and the gym in our own club are shut down.” GAA Zone would advise that camogie players do not use their local club’s pitches or gym facilities as insurance may not cover you. A lof Gaels are wondering when the games and training sessions will be back up and running?
Dympra Dougan expressed it saying: “Some people are saying a month but others are saying the schools won’t be back until September or October. If it goes on this long there might not be any championships this year at all”.
The Camogie Association are expected to make their decision if the championship is going ahead in due course. A lot of people involved with camogie in Derry are curious about how club competitions would be laid out.
Dympra Dougan gave a perspective that: “In a lot of counties seasons would be shortened but we (Derry camogie board) could find it difficult depending on the time we have to work with but we don’t know how many more weeks it is going to be”. It is all up in the air but many club competitions were set to begin on the first weekend of April, however, it is expected to get started later. Feel free to leave your comments in the comments section below.
Patrick Sharkey
GAA Zone Founder
The GAA might
only have one option for the National league.
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