Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sports in the Republic of Ireland

[17][18] On 15 March, footballer Dr Jack McCaffrey issued a video message thanking the public for their co-operation, which was relayed by Dublin GAA and media outlets—McCaffrey noting that he had shaven his beard to protect his patients.

[19] On 17 March, the GAA confirmed that the opening fixture of the 2020 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, due to have taken place at Gaelic Park in The Bronx on 3 May, had been postponed.

[20] Also that day, Michael Carton, the former Dublin hurler who won the 2013 Leinster Senior Hurling Championship, revealed he had been in hospital since the previous weekend after testing positive for COVID-19.

[28][29][30] On 6 May, the GAA announced that it expected no inter-county matches would take place until October at the earliest and asked all counties to cease preparations until 20 July, while unveiling a COVID-19 Advisory Group whose members included Pat O'Neill.

[42] On 30 July, it was confirmed that 40,000 fans would be allowed to attend the All-Ireland finals and semi-finals in Croke Park while Ireland's World Cup qualifiers in September were set to be played before a crowd of 25,000.

[51] On 14 August, the European Tour announced that the 2020 Irish Open would be held behind closed doors at Galgorm Castle the following month; this allowed for the looser quarantine rules in use north of the border at the time as 14 days was a requirement in the south.

[67][68] On 6 October, Munster Rugby suspended training and cancelled its weekly press conference ahead of the team's 2020–21 Pro14 Round 2 game against Edinburgh at Thomond Park.

[77] Then, on 29 December, Leinster Rugby confirmed that two of its players had received positive results for COVID-19 following tests carried out the previous day, that several others were self-isolating after being deemed close contacts, but that the rest of the team would return to training.

[88] On 10 March 2020, Slovakia suspended all sports events for two weeks, 17 days before the Republic of Ireland were due to play the country's football team in Bratislava in their UEFA Euro 2020 play-off.

[89] However, on 17 March, the entire tournament—among which were four games scheduled for Ireland—was postponed until 2021 to allow time for the enormous backlog of club fixtures caused by the virus across the continent to be played.

[101] Waterford players and management discovered on the evening of 4 May that were being made redundant on a temporary basis; manager Alan Reynolds criticised the manner of the disclosure; chairman Lee Power—also chairman of English fourth tier football club Swindon Town—had his son—the Waterford general manager—send an email; Reynolds only found out he had lost his job at his home club when his players informed him.

[102] On 15 May, the FAI announced "a pilot programme for a return to football for everyone" that would allow Bohemians, Derry City, Dundalk and Shamrock Rovers play each other in a (closed to spectators) mini tournament; the four teams were selected ahead of others as they had qualified for European competition and the event would serve as preparation.

[105] The League of Ireland resumed after 146 days on 31 July, with the Premier Division's bottom club Sligo Rovers recording an away victory over Derry City in the first game played.

[112] The announcement came after the team had been named, with Adam Idah and Aaron Connolly being excluded entirely from the game and Josh Cullen and Kevin Long replacing them on the bench.

[121] After the Wales game (a draw), Ireland's Health Service Executive (HSE) permitted Idah and Connolly to rejoin the squad when it emerged that the FAI backroom member's test result which had led to their exclusion had been a false positive.

[129] On 10 November, two days before the Republic of Ireland were due to play England in a friendly international at Wembley Stadium, the FAI announced that one player had tested positive for COVID-19 but was asymptomatic and that no one else had been deemed a close contact.

[134] Following the Republic of Ireland's away fixture against Wales in the 2020–21 UEFA Nations League B on 15 November, and also after playing the entire game, two players tested positive for COVID-19: Matt Doherty and James McClean.

Galway United, having already arrived in Dublin aboard two buses the previous Friday, were given a 3–0 victory after opponent Cabinteely cancelled the scheduled 2021 League of Ireland First Division game two hours in advance when a member of that squad tested positive for COVID-19.

[143] On 23 April, UEFA stripped Dublin of its hosting duties at Euro 2020 after the Government and FAI could not confirm it would be able to have the Aviva Stadium at one quarter of capacity for each of its four scheduled games.

[152] On 7 July, Dundalk confirmed that several players had tested positive for COVID-19 ahead of the club's first qualifying round of the 2021–22 UEFA Europa Conference League game against Newtown.

[153] On 25 August, West Bromwich Albion announced that Callum Robinson had tested positive for COVID-19 ahead of his club's 2021–22 EFL Cup second-round game against Arsenal.

The positive test result, the second the club had announced for this player, also caused him to miss 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group A fixtures for the national team.

[159] FIBA—the international basketball federation—postponed the 2020 FIBA European Championship for Small Countries, which had been scheduled for the city of Limerick in June, though offered the rescheduled 2021 event if desired.

[161][162][163] In addition, the AFL announced on 5 April that they would not be travelling to Ireland for the planned International Rules Series in November 2020 due to the disruption that the virus had caused to their season.

[164] On 11 May 2020, the Camanachd Association issued a statement that it had agreed in consultation with the GAA to cancel the 2020 Shinty-Hurling International Series between Ireland and Scotland, scheduled for October.

[170] The National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) decided that people returning to Ireland did not need to self-isolate, not yet regarding Britain to be overrun by the virus to the same extent as Spain or Italy then were, though Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney admitted that—had the horse racing event been held in Ireland—the government would have called for its cancellation.

[172] All racing ceased following the measures introduced on 24 March which officially banned all sport, affecting the Irish Grand National which had been scheduled for mid-April.

[179] The 2021 Galway Races summer festival went ahead as planned on 26 July with a limit of 1,000 spectators a day, with the event strictly controlled in accordance with health and safety guidelines to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

[181] Then on 8 April, the Donegal International Rally—the country's biggest event in the sport, scheduled for between 19 and 21 June—was postponed for only the second time in its history (it did not occur in 2001 due to restrictions imposed to successfully contain the foot-and-mouth outbreak in neighbouring Britain).

[198] On 2 February, a round-Ireland charity finswim, which had been underway since 17 September, came to an end after 700 kilometres off the coast of County Waterford, due to logistical challenges and concerns over crew safety amid the escalation of the pandemic.