Messages

[There is a context missing here.]

So will the game be played next week or not?

I'm gonna go on a limb here and say no MR2. Tyrone will opt out of it at the weekend. Can't be expected to play an all ireland semi the week after having covid. Had it have been a few players it would be fine. Not half the squad though. Would be madness to try and play.

There is a context missing here. One of the questions I wanted answered was how many players are actually sick? The answer to that is an important piece of context

There is no context missing, if someone has tested positive for covid then that is all that anyone needs to know medically. Nobody especially the GAA community on a discussion board are entitled to ascertain the severity of the diagnosis. Employers may ask for confirmation of a positive result but even they wouldn't ask for a diagnosis of symptoms.

Just take a moment to take off the blinkers and reflect on that.

If you genuinely believe that the GAA should treat the situation if Tyrone have 20 very seriously ill players with no timeframe fir recovery exactly the same as if the they have 20 lads who tested positive a week ago but were a symptomatic back then and still so now then plainly say that.

If you think that the 2 situations differ then retract your earlier statement and acknowledge that you were wrong

Form an administrative point of view the two situations are exactly the same, 20 players have tested positive. Either GAA headquarters have wriggle room to postpone the game again or not, at which time Tyrone GAA will have to make a decision if it is safe for those involved and the match can proceed or if they withdraw from the competition. It is irrelevant if the people involved are seriously ill or not, which as I stated originally is neither here nor there, and is of no consequence to the scheduling of the game.

[There is a context missing here.]

So will the game be played next week or not?

I'm gonna go on a limb here and say no MR2. Tyrone will opt out of it at the weekend. Can't be expected to play an all ireland semi the week after having covid. Had it have been a few players it would be fine. Not half the squad though. Would be madness to try and play.

There is a context missing here. One of the questions I wanted answered was how many players are actually sick? The answer to that is an important piece of context

There is no context missing, if someone has tested positive for covid then that is all that anyone needs to know medically. Nobody especially the GAA community on a discussion board are entitled to ascertain the severity of the diagnosis. Employers may ask for confirmation of a positive result but even they wouldn't ask for a diagnosis of symptoms.

[That will probably change when passports are needed etc,]

I think there will be big drop off in numbers taking vaccine under 50. Straw poll in office here, 12 people under 50, only 5 taking it. That will probably change when passports are needed etc, the main rational seems to be "if the vulnerable are jabbed why should we worry, its at our own risk, and we all had it anyhow"

Multi jurisdictional, legal minefield. Hugely unlikely to come in, at it's most basic, it could be argued that it coerces people into taking something they don't want to (or, need to, for sake of argument) for their "freedom". Legally its a black hole and you can be completely sure that it will be challenged by various groupings (and backed by just as many too, I suppose).

The pandemic will be long over before that legal war is even started, let alone settled.

Should businesses have the freedom to refuse admission to people who don't get the vaccine?

No

This is getting into the same sort of territory that Ashers bakery was found in breach of human rights for not baking a cake under religious/ethical beliefs.

If a person does not get a vaccine based on religious/political/ethical beliefs can they be denied a service provided? I'm not a legal expert but I assume that under the current human rights legislation that it would be impossible to deny them.

So much for player burn out at youth level.

If you are u16 and playing minor (which most club will have) then you have league matches on 1st, 3rd, 6th, 8th, 12th, 13th, 16th, 20th, 24th and 27th August. Thats 10 games in 26 days before you start into playoffs and championship.

It's great to see football back but I think this is too much. Run the minor and u14 in August and September then run the u16 competitions.

[if they get sacked from work because their selfish boss wants to disobey government instructions and bring them back to work, the employees would be well within their rights to take them to court.]

Trailer talking nonsense again. Says the virus isn't going away but we should somehow be all going back to work.
As ITG rightly says, workers are not obliged to go back to work, and should work from home if they're not an essential worker as per the government instructions. Cashflow problems of the business are not the fault of the employee, and if they get sacked from work because their selfish boss wants to disobey government instructions and bring them back to work, the employees would be well within their rights to take them to court.

This is unfortunately not accurate. With the extensive list of what is an essential worker, many businesses can make a case for qualifying if they want/need to get back to work. If it is possible to work from home the government says that you should however if this is not possible and on site location is safe an employee can not simply refuse to go to work because they don't want to. If there is work (or suitable alternative on another reasonable location for example a cleaner in a school being asked to clean a bank or supermarket instead) the employee can only stay away from work with a shielding letter without breach of contract.

I forgot to mention, if an employee has not got a shielding letter and refuses to go to work the company can take that as a resignation thereby nullifying any chance of redundancy payment if the company does need to lay-off employees due to a reduction in work. (Statutory redundancy is 1 weeks pay for each year of service and you are only eligible if you have been working for a company more than 1 year)

A company can not compel you to come back to work on reduced hours if furloughed as this would be a reduction in wages.

If a company returns to work and has all the relevant social distancing and safety precautions in place an employee is compelled to return to work unless they have been issued with a shielding letter from their GP which says they must stay off work for 12 weeks. If an employee has work and refuses to go then they will be removed from the furlough scheme and the company may proceed down the route of disciplinary action for refusing to work.

The furlough scheme means the employer pays the 80% and this is claimed back through the government. If the company is open as usual then they are not entitled to claim furlough for anyone who does not have a shielded letter, if they are open but limited staffing then the company has options. If an employee is working even on a part time basis then they are not eligible for the furlough scheme.

[Some strange tweets following the last round of intermediate fixtures especially the Fermanagh man giving out about teams conceding fixtures - who was his dig aimed at as Beragh weren't effected?]

Eglish still have a couple of weeks to wait to find out who they play which is far from ideal for them.
Some strange tweets following the last round of intermediate fixtures especially the Fermanagh man giving out about teams conceding fixtures - who was his dig aimed at as Beragh weren't effected?

Wasn't aimed at anyone in particular but more the integrity of the league when teams are giving points to other teams. There was an expectation in some quarters that because Beragh were safe and couldn't make the playoff they had nothing to play for against Loughmacrory and should have basically not put up a proper game and allowed then to be promoted automatically. This is ridiculous as there is always pride in the club, but we also had to make amends for the championship when many people will agree Beragh were the better team for long periods but couldn't finish out the game

Can anyone confirm or deny the rumours that the junior championship double header this evening is being changed to omagh?

County board should be ashamed of themselves. Playing junior championship double header in fintona on the training pitch on Friday night. Shows total disrespect for the teams and also fans wanting to go to the games. What is the rush when senior and intermediate not til after AI final

I have no issue with Errigal fielding a team in Div3, if they have the numbers to do so then good for them.

For me there have been 2 issues this year. Firstly players that played for Errigal senior or senior reserve championship in 2017 were eligible to play for the junior reserve championship due to the fact they had not played junior championship in 2017 and the county board considered them to be two different teams, which in anybody's reckoning is a farce. The fact that they beat us so easily in the reserve championship and we are top of the reserve league tells it's own story. Many of these same players will line out for Errigal III in the junior championship too.

Secondly and on a more general note, there were several clubs who were unable to play players in the reserve championship who have played reserve league all year due to the fact that they played in the junior championship in 2017 (probably as a sub) and are now unlikely to get any championship football. This needs to be addressed by the county board as it deprives players of playing the main type of football that any player trains so hard for.