Wexford hurling boss Davy Fitzgerald is again backing the need for the GAA to stage All-Ireland hurling and football championships in 2020 even after new government guidelines banned all spectators from live sports events for at least the next two weeks.
Fitzgerald, who also coaches Clare champions Sixmilebridge, is keen to see county teams return to action as planned in October.
He told RTE Sport, “There has to be a championship. At the end of the day, this virus could be here for a while. As I’ve said before, I’m one of these guys that has an underlying condition.
“But you have to get on with life. What happens if we’ve no vaccine next year or the year after? What do we do?
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“It’s about being smart. Once we don’t have any crazy parties or stuff like that and we’re sensible, why not do it? I think it’ll give people something to watch. Instead of depriving young fellas of one year of their inter-county career.
“I know people say you should give it a miss for a year. I just don’t agree with that. There’s a lot of psychological issues out there as well. I’ve seen it first hand. So there’s a lot to think about.
“I can’t see why there isn’t more spectators allowed into games. I know they’re worried about people coming in groups in cars. Yeah, we need to talk about that and get it sorted. But people live for this. They live for games and to see games.”
Taoiseach Micheal Martin said on Tuesday that he’s in favor of having a championship season starting in October.
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“We want the championship to go ahead,” he told RTE interviewer Claire Byrne. “I want an All-Ireland this year because I think it would be a symbol that the country is fighting this virus. That it’s not going to surrender to it and I’d love to see the championship completed. Like all games, League of Ireland, t whole lot, rugby.
“There’s another way of saying this by the way, in taking the decision we did on the crowds, we saved the championships and the leagues. It’s a challenge but to me it speaks to us as a nation if we can make sure that we can organize our sports.
“I’ve met the CMO (Chief Medical Officer Ronan Glynn), I just want to let people know, he’s as passionate a sportsperson as the rest of you out there. He wants to keep things going, he thinks it’s important for the health of the young people in the country that they’re out there training and they’re out there playing games.”
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