Fianna Fáil Senator Eugene Murphy has called for tough sanctions for sporting clubs in breach of Covid rules as he believes a recent spate of post-match celebrations throughout the country have contributed to spiralling positive case numbers.
“Unfortunately we know that in the past number of weeks there have been numerous celebrations after county finals, club games and other matches and this has to stop,” he said.
“We are facing into higher restrictions for the whole country and I think the GAA and other sporting clubs have unfortunately contributed to the problem with numerous celebrations taking place in recent weeks.
“Rules are constantly being broken, people are listening to one thing and doing another. I believe any sporting clubs that breach Covid rules should not be considered eligible for sports capital grants in 2021- I know that may sound harsh but the numbers are getting out of hand. It’s not about blaming young people, it’s adults who are in charge of these clubs.
“I know that so many clubs have been adhering to the Covid rules in terms of training etc but all sense and reason seems to go out the window when there is any kind of a win involved and there is no level of social distancing when it comes to post match celebrations. Surely there are safer ways to celebrate a win by driving through a town or village etc, but these big celebrations must stop,” said Senator Murphy.
The Fianna Fáil Senator pointed out that it was not just GAA clubs which had questions to answer but numerous other sporting organisations also had to play their part.
“Regardless of what any Government puts in place there has to be a level of personal responsibility and that just seems to be thrown to one side at the moment,” continued Senator Murphy.
The Fianna Fáil Senator pointed out that he was not in favour of an introduction of country wide level 5 restrictions as he felt it was too drastic and he expressed real fears for the economy and the mental health of the population. “I’m not in favour of level 5 restrictions but we are walking ourselves into level 5 by a lack of personal responsibility.
“We very often hear national politicians talking about closing off airports etc but they are ignoring what is going on under their own noses in their own constituencies with sporting celebrations —it has to stop. People have to cop on and get real,” concluded Senator Murphy.
