Sporting organisations are understood to be lobbying the government for a reduction in the social distancing rule from two metres to one.

An Taoiseach Lao Varadkar opened up the prospect of fans attending matches and events in greater numbers when mentioning it in Friday’s announcement of the latest moves on reopening the country.

He said it may be possible for attendance at sporting events as part of the fourth phase on July 20th.

That is the date at which game activity is to return in team sports and if the virus remains under control then the potential of fans attending events like the All Ireland Championships or matches in football and rugby becomes a possibility.

Horse Racing returns today at Naas but under strict protocols, as is the case in the 18 sports in total that have now been given approval to commence in one shape or another.

The Galway Races will start seven days after phase four and while the planning at present is to take place behind closed doors, some work is undoubtedly going on around what it would be like to accommodate spectators.

Speaking to his own club Na Fianna GAA on their social channels over the weekend GAA President John Horan spoke of the potential for Croke Park hosting 42,000 in a one metre socially distant manner.

Over in England the Rugby Football Union has run modelling on what they could do at Twickenham and that same number is being put forward as a potential capacity if the distance is reduced, as opposed to less than 10,000 if they have to keep two metres apart.

There is a danger that we are looking to run before we have even stood up to walk, but sport is about hope and anticipation and so it is right to be asking the question.

Sporting bodies have behaved with patience and obeyed every restriction through the past three months and will continue to do so.

If the number of cases or the reproduction rate of the virus begins to rise then it will seem like a mad dream that we could have been heading to Croke Park or the Aviva for matches rather than Covid testing.

Planning and starting the conversation around ‘what if?’ is both valid and essential.