GAA president John Horan calls on Stormont Executive for financial support package

Horan believes Government assistance is vital for the GAA

GAA president John Horan has called on the Stormont Executive to consider providing a financial support package for the sport in Northern Ireland.

Horan said Ulster GAA clubs would need funding to overcome the financial impact of the coronavirus crisis.

The association has opened talks with the Irish Government about funding.

"To realise the impact that our organisation makes within society," Horan said when asked what his message to the Stormont Executive would be.

"Because of the restrictions that we have in terms of our activities, that they would give consideration to giving some allocation of funding to the GAA.

"This would allow it to get back on its feet as a strong organisation and not find itself restricted by the financial hits that we have suffered."

Cost to GAA 'could be greater than €50m'

When speaking at the weekend, Horan estimated that if the GAA championship was not played this year, it would cost the association in the region of €50m.

However, he told BBC Sport NI on Tuesday that the costs were likely to be more than that.

"I think it would prove a huge challenge and we will need government support in both parts of Ireland," continued Horan, who reiterated his message that GAA matches should not be played while social distancing measures are still in place.

"The figures are large and they may even be larger than the €50m discussed the other night, but we have to be patient.

"When we get our revenue streams and gate receipts back up and running we will be conscious that we redistribute money amongst the membership as best we can.

"We intend to approach them [the Irish Government]. I wouldn't like to pre-empt anything, but I think they have got to realise the value that sport brings to the community and society in general.

"I think they have to give due recognition to the fact that the sport has to get back up, has to be robust and should not be in a struggling position because of the events we are experiencing at the moment."

Grounds could open before 20 July

The Irish Government's phased reopening of the Republic of Ireland suggested that GAA teams could begin to meet up again from 20 July but Croke Park then said that inter-county games would not take place until October at the earliest.

Horan said he was conscious of the calls for GAA grounds to be opened for the public to use for recreation in advance of the 20 July date, and that the GAA was reviewing that.

Tyrone beat Monaghan in the McKenna Cup final in January

"I understand where people are coming from and we are conscious of people's wellbeing," he said.

"If there is one first step that we may make in terms of loosening things up it may well be that people will be allowed access to grounds for restricted periods of time under supervision, though with no ball activity.

"If there are walkways available then the elderly in the community could go down at a particular time of the day and have a period to exercise. Then later in the day other people could do the grounds for exercise.

"If there was some structure on it then that could be reasonable, though all of these things are very fluid. That is why we are constantly in touch with each other to review the situation."

While re-emphasising his stance that GAA competitions should only return when the safety of players and spectators is guaranteed, the president said there is no definitive date in place for when the organisation would abandon the 2020 competitions.

"We'd need to see if we had enough time to run the competition and that would be led by medical advice," he added.

"We would not have a logistical problem of going into January or February, but if we were going to have to go further than that then we might be better just starting the 2021 competitions."