That’s when phase three of the Government’s national recovery plan begins though pundit Colm O’Rourke claims pitches should be opened immediately for certain activities.

Speaking on The Sunday Game, O’Rourke claimed it’s “time now to be moving on a bit quicker” and while he acknowledged plans to reopen GAA walking tracks from June 8, the Meath great said that in the case of underage players in particular “we should be getting these people back out. We need to get them away from their devices”.

O’Rourke concluded that he ‘would be advising a much speedier return’ though former Monaghan midfielder Clerkin defended the pace of the GAA’s movements.

“You have to be conscious of the scale of the GAA,” said Clerkin. “In many ways the size of the GAA is its greatest strength but when it comes to this public health issue, it’s arguably its greatest challenge. You have over half a million playing members, on top of that members, then you include parents, grandparents, so en masse it’s got such a potentially massive impact on the overall public health.

“It’s not just an isolated club in one area, it’s every corner of the country. Arguably it (the GAA) had a huge impact at the start of this pandemic, when it took the quick lead to close down. Obviously all the positive news from a transmission point of view, you’d think the GAA had a massive impact on that.

“Equally, if we move too soon, because of the sheer scale and volume of the membership, you don’t want to be in a position where you’re contributing to a step backwards.

“If you take where we were three or four weeks ago, I think the pace that we have moved at is relatively quick, considering where people might have thought we’d be.”

Clerkin said some members of the public who contacted him after the committee was established in early May wanted to “just scrap the year” while others told him there’s “no rush back”.

GAA president John Horan said last week that “as long as social distancing is the priority at two metres, that is a big hurdle for us”.

Dick Clerkin