It has been obvious for a while now that the 2020 GAA championships wouldn't quite be the same.
In early March the GAA announced that their Allianz League programme was being suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic, and last week the organisation took a vote that enabled their management committee to alter championship structures – only previously allowed through Congress.
They also that said that they don't expect any games to be played before July, at the earliest.
That in itself pointed to a shortened championship to be most likely played on a knock-out basis.
And comments by Minister for Health Simon Harris this morning, when he said that it was "highly unlikely" that mass gatherings would take place this year, were another warning that in such a fluid situation, everything is on the table.
The latest figures released, on Saturday evening, by the Department of Health show that 571 people have died in Ireland due to Covid-19.
Speaking on RTE Radio 1's Sunday Sport, the panel of Colm Cooper, Ciarán Whelan and Oisín McConville gave their views on the situation.
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"It's disappointing, but in all honesty, we felt that this was coming," said former Kerry forward Cooper.
"On a human level there are people dying out there. As sports fans, as GAA fans, we were hoping that there was going to be light at the end of the tunnel, possibly in the autumn.
"But taking those comments into consideration it doesn't look like that's going to be a runner at this point.
"Health will come first. While it mightn't be the best news for inter-county, there might be a silver lining for clubs at the end of it."
McConville, an ex-Armagh forward, said: "The GAA is not going to go rogue on this and say, 'listen, we're having a championship anyway'.
"It was pretty inevitable but at the same time it was still devastating to read that this morning because sometimes it's just the hope that keeps you going.
"The hope that we'd have some sort of championship, knockout, behind closed doors or whatever it was. People were very accepting of that and I've never heard the GAA community as one in anything as much as they have been [with this].
"That looks unlikely now.
"It's only times like this that you realise how important sport is – just for mental health, getting out and about.
"My mum is 84, she's stuck in the house all the time, we see her through the window, she lives for sport. My father died 20-odd years ago and sport and GAA kept my mother alive for that time, and it gave her a purpose.
"At this moment in time she doesn't feel as if she has that purpose. She misses the sport, she misses getting out of the house and interacting with people.
"The GAA gave us all that and that's one of the things that we sorely miss at this stage."
The Minister for Health says it's unlikely we'll see mass gatherings in 2020. Would you be in favour of senior inter-county championship games being played without supporters? #rtegaa
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) April 19, 2020
The possibility of playing championship games behind closed doors was also discussed with Cooper and former Dublin midfielder Whelan in agreement about how surreal such an occasion would be.
"The GAA are right, they are monitoring the situation, they don't want to make any drastic decisions," said Cooper.
"[But Gaelic games] behind closed doors, it's not for me.
"The essence of the GAA is people going to Thurles, Clones, Castlebar, Killarney, making their way down Jones' Road in Dublin. That's what makes the GAA, the atmosphere.
"At the moment we should be smelling the freshly cut grass, getting ready for championship. It's not sitting well with all of us but I can't see how a successful GAA championship would go ahead behind closed doors.
"Can you imagine the climax of a championship and on final day, climbing the steps of the Hogan Stand for Liam MacCarthy or Sam Maguire and no supporters in the stadium. It certainly doesn't sit well with me as a supporter of the game.
"I can only imagine the players as well, driving through towns on the way to matches – I just don't see how it would work. I can't see how it would be a positive.
"It wouldn't create the excitement that we are used to. We go to see the little bits of magic that light up a crowd."
Whelan concurred: "It would be a difficult and surreal environment for them to perform in. We've got to put their health first as well.
"The crowd, the buzz, the atmosphere are usually critical to the game. While there might be a novelty factor for a few games that might wear a little but thin and we could commit ourselves to something that mightn't work.
"If we got to a stage where we knew there couldn't be any mass gatherings, and we are probably at that stage, we could maybe invest time in getting the club game back going, if again it was in a safe environment."
However, McConville believes that nothing should be ruled out, given the strange times we are living in and the possible benefits of having some live action to look forward to would make playing without the supporters worth it.
He said: "There would be something different and unique about it. We are in a place where there is a lot of things happening that we never thought we'd see.
"If it was safe to do so, I would take it at this stage, just for some form or sense of normality or some sense that we were getting back to a place where we wanted to be.
"It's not an ideal situation but at this stage I'd take any crumb of comfort, [even] 10 minutes each way in the Athletic Grounds some evening.
"A lot of things will change in the next month or two, just don't take away that hope.
"Surely there's hope that later on in the year we can get some form of football played, at this stage probably most likely that it will be some sort of club football."
