If "roadmap" was the word of the month for May as Ireland began lifting restrictions imposed because of the coronavirus pandemic, then "accelerating" is surely set to be June's flavour of the month with the clamour growing to speed the re-opening up. And indeed the talk of doing so has turned the spotlight somewhat on the GAA and whether they were too quick to shut down all facilities until July 20th, particularly as a study has now revealed that players actually only spend 2.5 seconds within two metres of each other during a match. The GAA is set to publish a roadmap for return to play soon and, while nobody expects anything immediate, it may well be sped up at least somewhat. Moving on, and one place that GAA will be played in the near future is East Belfast. This morning Malachy Clerkin tells the curious story of a club that was set up over Sunday breakfast last week when Dave McGreevy sent out a tweet which then promptly resulted in an explosion of interest for Gaelic Games in an area which has been nothing short of a wasteland for the sport over the last 50 years or so.
Moving on and, as the protests at the death of unarmed black American George Floyd continue to rage around the United States, numerous NFL players as well as NBA superstar LeBron James waded into a Twitter row last night after New Orleans Saints player Drew Brees said on television that he will never with players kneeling during the national anthem.
Meanwhile, in Japan, organisers of next year's Tokyo Olympics are discussing a "simplified" version of the Games which will likely still be hit in some capacity by the Covid-19 epidemic despite being pushed back a year. Various options, such as mandatory coronavirus testing and having fewer spectators, are being considered by organisers. One Irish athlete who is resetting her goals and biding her time ahead of the rescheduled Games is Kellie Harrington. The boxer has returned to work on the frontline at St Vincent's Psychiatric Hospital in Fairview and that experience has helped her to put her boxing goals in perspective.
Another Irish athlete who has had to put things on ice for now is figure skater Conor Stakelum who tells Ian O'Riordan about the unusual experience of having to train in his back garden recently, with no ice in sight. Stakelum is also doing his bit in the fight against coronavirus, answering the HSE's call by taking up a post as a laboratory assistant in a Dublin hospital.
In soccer, Bohemians last night acknowledged the "error" which has seen them begin training in various different parks around Dublin over the last few weeks with a video surfacing on social media on Wednesday which showed a group bigger than four being put through drills. In a statement last night the club acknowledged that they had acted against the clear advice of the FAI's chief medical advisor, Dr Alan Byrne, who had recommended that clubs not recommence training, even with groups of players that fell within the Government limit of four people. In the Premier League the consensus remains to complete the season but, if it were to be suspended again, the issue of relegation is the main sticking point for clubs as they continue discussions.
