Sport has rowed in at every stage of the Government plans to flatten the curve on the CoronaVirus and will continue to do so but the announcement that there would be no mass gatherings of more than 5,000 people until September at the earliest was a major blow to morale.
We understand the reasons why and back the science but it does bring down the curtain on any hopes of the summer rituals that define us as a sporting population.
No attendance at a single inter County All Ireland Championship match. No possibility of a rescheduled Heineken Champions Cup Quarter Final at the Aviva Stadium. No Festivals.
It has been psychologically easier to maintain optimism when we were looking at weeks of inactivity but when the horizon stretches to months that seems so much harder.
And yet we have said all along that sport will win through because of our inbuilt resilience.
Matches are won and lost, teams are feted in triumph and defeat is quickly forgotten. We will look elsewhere within the wide spectrum of sport and we will make it work.
The GAA focus will likely now switch to Club first and Championship in the Autumn while that remains a possibility.
As someone involved in the club scene there is much merit in that, so long as we can collectively work out a way to make it happen.
Other experts are talking about a longer period before contact sport can be considered and we will have to bear that in mind before getting ahead of ourselves.
The FAI, GAA, Rugby and all sports will now be seeking clarity when we hear to what extent, if any, there will be an easing of restrictions on May 5th.
That’s the next phase, the next game, the next action in the sporting mantra of taking things one step at a time.
Yesterday’s announcement was a blow. We have had them before. We will bounce back.
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