GAA club game set to begin before inter-county competition
- Published
All GAA activity has been suspended since 12 March
The GAA is to hold a media conference over the weekend at which the organisation will lay out its return to play pathway recommendations.
It is understood that initially the club will be prioritised with the club championship across the 32 Irish counties provisionally pencilled in for the month of August.
BBC Sport NI also understands that barring a second wave of Covid-19 the All-Ireland inter-county championship series is set to get underway in mid-October on a straight knockout basis.
Preferred venues have been identified by the GAA and discussions on how best to accommodate and steward a limited number of spectators are ongoing.
Indications are that the provincial and All-Ireland club series will be ditched in favour of completing the inter-county championship.
The GAA's Covid-19 Advisory Group, tasked with plotting a way forward, will make clear that all provisional plans will be dependent on the rate of infection number and lockdown restrictions continuing to ease.
Antrim captain Declan Lynch, who has recovered from coronavirus, told the BBC on Thursday that all decisions should be "based on the health evidence".
"It shouldn't be about money or getting back to sport. People's health should be paramount in all of this," emphasised the Saffrons skipper.
"We must make sure the right procedures are in place before we think of getting back into competitive hurling and football."
All-Ireland approach desirable
Lynch has called on the GAA to "make sure the northern counties are not left behind" amid fears that a disparity in the easing of restrictions between the two jurisdictions may disadvantage those in the north compared with their southern counterparts.
"We are wanting an all-Ireland approach as even a week or two of difference in coming out of lockdown would make a huge difference in terms of training and match fitness," he argued.
"We want to see both jurisdictions treated equally from the point of view of getting ready to go back into the inter-county scene."
Antrim captain Declan Lynch says the remainder of the National League should be played out
'League is our championship'
It remains unclear whether the National Football and Hurling Leagues, which were halted in March, will be completed or not.
The Antrim captain strongly believes they should be finished and argues his county should consider boycotting the championship unless they receive "a firm commitment" from the GAA that at least games affecting promotion and relegation should take place.
"The National League for us is the championship. We are second in Division Four and are two matches away from potentially getting promoted, which is our ultimate aim.
"I think the GAA should endeavour to complete it and I urge them to ensure that is the priority rather than the championship at this stage. If it wasn't finished my view is it would be to suit the larger counties.
"We need to get out of Division Four to improve Antrim football and if it is not completed my opinion would be that we should boycott the championship. But the panel would have to sit down and air our views and discuss that as a group."