Locked

Locked

1 April 2020

KILCOO will have to wait until May at the very least before they can start their defence of the Down league title.

The defending league champions and All-Ireland club finalists were due to open the season with a testing encounter at Mayobridge on Friday evening.

Divisions 1 and 2 of the Down All County Football League were to begin this weekend — with Divisions 3 and 4 were scheduled to start last weekend.

Any thoughts of a return to action have been put on the back burner with last week’s announcement that the GAA shutdown has been extended until April 19.

However, it has been revealed that there will be no competitive GAA action in Down in April — even if the lockdown ends on April 19.

Down GAA secretary Sean Og McAteer said last night: “We are staying in line with the GAA directive at national level, but there will be no games for adult or junior teams in Down in April.

Mr McAteer said the decision was being taken for practical reasons. “Even if we were to come back on April 19, the clubs would need at least a couple of weeks to prepare. It would be very difficult for them to play in April.”

Mr McAteer said the battle against coronavirus had to take precedence over sport.

“These are terribly difficult times and the most important thing at the moment is to keep people safe,” he remarked. “There will be a time in the future for Gaelic games.”

Meanwhile, the gates of GAA facilities throughout the county remain padlocked.

In their joint statement last week GAA director general Tom Ryan and president John Horan ordered clubs to close their facilities completely.

“This is to include the use of all pitches and property for recreational purposes, including walking, casual games or gatherings,” their statement said.

“Where it is not possible to restrict access please erect signage to the effect that all GAA facilities are closed and all activity suspended.”

Clubs have also been advised that they can continue with membership registration while being “mindful of the possible changed financial circumstances of members”, while club lottos may proceed if they are run on an online basis “and do not involve wholesale engagement with the public”.

The statement added: “Clubs are also advised to refrain from undertaking new capital projects while support funding for this type of work is suspended.”