As members will be aware there is thankfully light at the end of the tunnel! The club is considering how, when and in what format club activities may resume. All such however will be taken having regard to HSE/Government guidelines and the directions of Athletics Ireland. We thus welcome this morning’s statement from Athletics Ireland which we publish below:
We were delighted to receive the government news in recent days in regard to the Roadmap to Re-Open Society and Business https://www.gov.ie/en/press-release/e5e599-government-publishes-roadmap-to-ease-covid-19-restrictions-and-reope/
However, we are liaising with Sport Ireland and relevant government authorities to ascertain what are the specific implications to athletics clubs and athletes in regard to the guidelines.
We can confirm that all national competitions scheduled for May, June and July have been postponed until after the 1st August, 2020. We are actively considering new dates for competitions and events that are feasible to host based on the guidelines after the 1st August and we will communicate these decisions to you all as soon as possible.
We recognise that the situation is constantly changing and government guidance is being updated regularly we are also mindful that lockdown measures can be re-instated at any time during our exit from lockdown. Any return to activity and competition will consider all government messaging with the aim that we maintain the safety and well-being of the athletics and wider community as our primary goal.
We have established forums to consider our return to activity in the areas of Competition, Recreation and Clubs and we thank all involved for their time and expertise in these respective areas, the decisions being made are not easy.
The principles below will apply to all our decision making in regard to our return to activity at all levels and we hope to share;
- We will follow all Government guidelines on any transition back to activity, with the aim of ensuring the continued safety and well-being of the athletics and wider community.
- For all competition and events we will ensure activities are safe and focus on the well-being of athletes.
- We are aware of a lead in training time required for athletes in clubs before any competition can resume.
- We will need to be innovative around running athletic competition and events if restrictions on social distancing remain and we will produce guidelines to mitigate risk to enable competition within government guidelines.
We believe we are on the last stages of the journey back to club activity and competition and we thank the entire athletics community for their continued patience and discipline throughout this difficult time. It is pleasing to see the huge amount of walking and running activity that has continued in the last few weeks emphasizing the importance of our sport to the nation.
