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Brogan warning for Championships: 'Emotions just grab the better of you'

Mayo fans have been waiting a long time for All-Ireland success
Mayo fans have been waiting a long time for All-Ireland success

"It's probably something that’s in the back of everyone’s mind at the moment," Kerry's David Clifford says when asked if he's thought about the possibility of the 2020 inter-county championships being called off.

His manager Peter Keane says the same. 

The same factor that affords the GAA a unique place in Irish life now threatens the premier competitions.

Winning and losing in Gaelic games is all about the communal nature of the act. How often have we heard about club success being that bit more special because of who you share those times with?

Players and supporters, friends and neighbours win and lose in unison.

Neither soccer nor rugby penetrate the psyche of the country to the same degree and using those codes as examples of how one 'should' act actually misses the point. 

And despite an appeal from the GAA prior to last weekend’s county finals it proved impossible to separate the joy of winning from the need to celebrate as one.

What has become a defining virtue of our games has also manifested itself as an enemy of the people in battling a deadly disease. 

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A number of videos emerged on social media with people showing little regard for the new normal when the cup comes home, while the GAA also said it was working off evidence that didn’t make it into the public sphere.

The natural instinct that takes over – and puts common sense and logic to one side – when your team has just won its first county title in 50 years can be impossible to suppress. 

That’s what prompted the GAA to get ahead of the curve and call a halt to club proceedings.

With coronavirus numbers rising at a worrying rate, the powers that be decided that the pause button must be pressed if the senior championships – for which the Government have promised €15million between the LGFA, Camogie Association and the GAA – are to be saved.


Rapid Covid-19 inter-county testing to be rolled out


The first senior championship matches are down for the 24/25 October.

The games will be played behind closed doors and even if Clare beat Limerick in the Munster SHC quarter-final all the cows in that county will be hard at work the following morning.

But as we go further the stakes increase and we approach county-final-type territory.

What if Westmeath were to become the first team since Donegal in 2014 to beat Dublin? 

What if Mayo were to go all the way this year and carry Sam Maguire westwards for the first time since 1951? 

How far would an appeal to people to use their common sense go? 

"A plan needs to be put in place to manage a situation like that," former Dublin star and SuperValu ambassador Bernard Brogan tells RTÉ Sport.

"There will be games where that happens, it will be life-changing for fans and different teams. 

"I'm sure there will be a few bolters and provincial medals coming back to places that haven't seen it for a long time. 

"Whether there would be a team that wins an All-Ireland that mightn't have thought they would. 

"Let's be honest, will there be celebrations like that if a team does something special? Yes, there will be.

"Hopefully people will have learned from the club stuff, but emotions just grab the better of you." 

Brogan, a seven-time All-Ireland winner, knows that best intentions can go by the wayside when final fever kicks in.

He appealed to the powers that be to, as far as possible, mitigate when passions are at extremes and ordinary supporters want to be part of the moment.

"Things are going to be a lot different, the GAA needs to communicate with every county board, with every team to manage it," he said. 

"If Westmeath beat Dublin, what's the protocol in Westmeath to manage that situation, or if Clare win Munster, what happens there? 

"The thing about the club championship, the parade and knocking into the bars, the responsibility needs to be on the county board and the teams. 

"If a team wins and they don't wander onto the street with a cup, that will stop fans coming out. There's always going to be people having a few drinks at home with their friends. 

"You have to mitigate for the mass gatherings, not parading around, putting a time in the diary to do that, do it in a way that's managed, going around to classrooms or whatever that is. 

"The mass gatherings are the real challenge here, you are calling for people to come out and celebrate, they are only human. I'm sure there are ways of mitigating that, policies put in place that players have to be kept away." 

Former Dublin team-mate Cian O’Sullivan also addressed the subject.

"We're at the risk of having no championship if we are going to have gatherings and big celebrations after a win," he said.

"People just have to adapt like they did with many other forms of their lives for the last three or four months as to how they cherish these moments. 

"There is an onus on clubs and county boards and the GAA to police that, issue the guidelines on what best practice is. 

"This is the harsh reality going forward. I think everyone is willing to make the sacrifices to make that happen." 

It’s one thing for players who are laden down with All-Ireland medals to appeal for restraint. 

The number of counties where the players and fans can take winning Sam Maguire or Liam MacCarthy in their stride can be counted on the fingers of one hand.

How realistic is it for the rest of the country? 

"The GAA is such a huge part of 90% of communities in Ireland," says Donegal’s Ryan McHugh.

"It's massive but I think people just have to realise that hopefully when all this is over we can celebrate then.

"Donegal or Galway or Dublin of whoever it is go on to win an All-Ireland, hopefully we can see next summer if we can have a big night out then to celebrate it. 

"Different things could be celebrated that day. You go back to your close family and celebrate just as much in the house."

Moycullen won the Galway SFC title for the first time last weekend and Galway captain Damien Comer says celebrations were adapted. 

"They just called off their tours and most of the things that would attract a crowd," he says.

"I'm sure they celebrated it, and that's to be expected.

"You just have to be smart. It's up to each individual and how they react. You can get carried away, measures will have to be in place for that for whoever wins it.

"It comes down to individual responsibility, no more than the students at Spanish Arch or the house parties. It comes down to common sense and being smart about your whereabouts and what you are doing."

There is the hope that the current Level 3 restrictions will lead to a reduced number of cases. In turn that will make the job of the GAA, in conjunction with public health authorities, easier.

If things turn the other way then the organisation will have another difficult decision to make. 

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