A depressing Halloween but will GAA manage to boost the mood?

It’s been a depressing Halloween for many with the country moving into another lockdown. For many businesses this is another hammer blow as they were attempting to take tentative steps back into trading after the first lockdown.
The prospect of things improving for Christmas remains to be seen, even if the country moves down to Level 3 it will still be a Christmas like no other we have experienced in the past. Will loved ones be allowed to return home? Will the best chance for a pint in the local be in the beer garden on Christmas Eve? What shops will open?
There are so many questions and for the experts to come up with the answers, as they attempt to juggle health advise and the task of keeping the economy on life support, must be an ever increasing difficult act to follow.
Since my last piece in the Observer the CMO Dr Tony Holohan returned, NEPHT have one clear objective and that is to advise on the best way to curtail the spread of the Coronavirus virus. The Government while listening to this advice must also take into consideration balancing the books and making sure the economy, jobs, education and many other factors are afforded every chance of maintaining some sort of normality.
The amount of lobbying of politicians at present is massive, cabinet meeting are hearing several different views and in the end it’s all being played out very very publicly.
The NPHET request to move to Level 5 a number of weeks ago should perhaps have been acted on more quickly, the figures were showing that Level 3 was not working but there were egos at play and it was important for some to make sure that it was perceived that they were in charge - if you catch my drift. Had we moved to Level 5 earlier then perhaps maybe, just maybe, a more normal Christmas might have been more likely. But politics, spin, and future votes all have to be considered in this drama.

Leitrim football and the great debate
In sporting terms Leitrim’s decision not to play Down in the Allianz Football league generated a lot of debate. As usual some was uninformed but you expect that by now. I followed this story very carefully and I have to admit I was worried about travelling to Newry, in the end Ocean FM had taken the decision to cover the match from our studios in Collooney where we would receive pictures and provide the commentary from there.
This practice is known as ‘off tube commentary’ and it existed long before Covid, several games are covered this way for world cups in soccer and rugby for example where commentary teams would work from Dublin or London with the matches in South Africa or Brazil for instance. The decision on whether to travel or not was an individual one for the players, management team and backroom team.
Everyone has their own circumstances to consider like underlying conditions, the welfare of children or elderly relatives. GAA players are in the elite bracket but they are also amateur and if their involvement in sport is going to impact their livelihood then again they have to take precautions. Maybe Down should have offered to play in the game at a venue where Covid-19 figures were lower like what happened when Antrim played Waterford. David Power the Tipperary manager was also wrong in my view to comment like he did. I interviewed him after the match in Carrick and he was attempting to do a major U-turn on what he had said a week previously.
The ironic thing is that the structure of the leagues could be change d next year due to Covid-19, I see regional leagues being flouted and that would see Leitrim, Roscommon, Mayo, Sligo Derry, Fermanagh and Longford in the ‘Northwest Division', so then the question is 'was there a need to finish off the 2020 league at all' comes into play.
The championship has also been given the green light. Again opinions are mixed. Every time a business can’t open, somebody won’t be able to make it home for Christmas or a family celebration has to be cancelled the comparison between the personal disappointment and the fact that GAA is continuing is drawn. The argument over what qualifies for ‘elite sport’ has also been well discussed.
Players have to blend back into normal life after they play a game on Sunday but so too do part-time soccer players and Club Rugby players. They are also ‘elite’ there are other sports going on at present but it’s the GAA that is getting most of the flack.
I also except that while the number of teams will reduce week on week in the All Ireland Football championship this is not the case in other GAA competitions where group matches are required. I also have to agree that the argument the championship is good for the mental health of the nation as being a little weak.
Yes, the championship in normal circumstances does lift the spirts of the country. The exploits of Dublin in football in recent year and the wonderful hurling championships where a packed Croke Park followed breath taking encounters would also lift your spirts.
But this is very different - winter conditions, empty stadiums, fake crowd noise... the list goes on.
Are the ingredients there to boost the collective mood of the country? I have to be honest at this stage and answer that I am not sure.
Rigid testing is required. What will happen before a Provincial or All Ireland Semi-final if, God forbid, there is an outbreak of Covid-19?
Will fixtures be played without the full squad, remember it’s one thing fielding a weakened league team but the championship will be another kettle of fish. Let’s give the championship a chance and reserve judgment for now

Technology is not perfect
Another particular aspect of news we have been covering in recent times has been agriculture and online mart sales. Like everything else there are some in favour and some against. The latest mart restrictions where sales can only take place online caused a lot of anger, then when the entire system seemed to crash recently there was complete uproar among farmers.
Technology is not perfect yet, the national broadband plan remember that? Is still not completed and there are many people reading this article today that will have substandard broadband. Imposing these restrictions on farmers at this time is also not fair.
There have also been reports of buyers coming together, bidding remotely together and agreeing what animals they will bid on during sale.
This will also drive down prices for farmers that are selling their animals. It’s no wonder that some farmers feel the small farmer is being targeted on every given opportunity.
Exclusive online sales may work but let’s make sure we have the infrastructure in place before imposing such restrictions.