The GAA championships got underway this weekend, and while it will be great to have the competitions back, they have certainly lost some of their lustre because of the lack of crowds in grounds.
Attendances at sporting events are severely limited in this country, with crowds of 100 or 200 people (depending on the size of the stadium) the amounts that are currently permitted. Of course, this is all in the interest of public health.
Speaking on The Sunday Game ahead of the meeting of Clare and Waterford at Semple Stadium, a game where only 200 people will be on site in a ground that can hold 47,000 spectators, Donal Óg Cusack said that he can understand why the Government are being cautious in their approach.
I can understand why people have been questioning it. I passed a club league on the way up on the road and there was more people at the league game than are going to be here today.
From a health and safety point of view, we abandoned conservatism before Christmas for a couple of weeks and paid a big price. There's no way the Government can keep everybody happy.
I understand why, in a stadium of this size, it seems to be overly cautious. Then again there are people to make these decisions and I'm not one of them.
However, the scenes currently on show at Euro 2020 have rightly raised questions about the approach in this country.
Stadiums around the continent have seen tens of thousands of football fans on show, often in nations that have a very similar vaccination rate to our own.
Henry Shefflin believes more should be done to get people into games in Ireland, especially considering it would be in a controlled outdoor setting.
I can't understand it. When you look at the soccer it really brought it home.
I was in Tramore a couple of weeks ago and the place was absolutely thronged with people. We're going to be in an outdoor setting and can control it.
The numbers are limited to such an effect that it is having an impact on our championship, it definitely impacted last year.
It was sad driving in on the road today. We normally come here to start the Munster Championship and we're all excited and buzzing, but not having the spectators or family and friends of these players is definitely impacting it.
I take the point on indoor dining, and we're not scientists in any way, shape or form, but I do think in an outdoor setting such as this where we have the seats and numbers, we could have a lot more people here in a controlled environment...
We don't know what's going on behind the scenes.
To be fair to the Government, they supported a lot of the sporting bodies last year with funds when it was clear they required them. We do understand that.
I think we're in the space now that the confidence has come back into the economy that we could have more people here.
I definitely think the GAA could be doing more to have people in the grounds.
This is a view that is definitely becoming more common in GAA circles.
Ridiculous abundance of caution in Thurles here. The 200 supporters are in the Ó Riain Stand. Another 200 could have been accommodated in the Kinane. #GAA
— John Fogarty (@JohnFogartyIrl) June 27, 2021
Munster championship and no crowds. Really wrong!!! Easily have 10 thousand here safely... ridiculous 🤦🏻♂️ open it up!! pic.twitter.com/376sfTNvYA
— Tomás Ó Sé (@tomas5ky) June 27, 2021
A number of test events are set to take place in various venues around the country in the coming weeks.
Even in those circumstance crowds will be severely limited. For example, the meeting of Limerick and Cork in Thurles next week will allow 2,500 people into the grounds, a number you'd imagine it would be difficult to learn much from from a logistical standpoint.
With the scenes around the rest of Europe, it is clear a real plan is needed to attempt to return to some sort of normality.
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