Stars unite behind ‘immediate action’ letter over return of outdoor youth sport

Figures from the world of Northern Ireland sport including football, boxing, gaelic games, hockey and rugby have joined together in support of the letter that considers “curtailing of outdoor youth sport is now unnecessary and not supported by either science or best practice”.

Stuart Dallas, Gary Hamilton, Oran Kearney, Paddy Barnes, Shirley McCay, Peter Canavan and Stephen Ferris are among the names on a letter aiming to “give voice to the frustration felt within our communities and clubs at the neglect of youth sport”.

The letter acknowledged “the absolute necessity to make provision to minimize the risk of spreading the virus” but “we do not believe that outdoor sport under adequate controls contradicts that approach”.

It also stated that “during more than seven months in the past year, children here will have been prohibited from playing sport outside at a time when they were also excluded from school, and, by natural extension, school PE” and that “the impact of these prolonged periods of the prohibition of organized sport has been devastating”.

The letter also claims previous community support has been replaced by “frustration and increasingly anger” and that “there are no confirmed transmissions of Covid-19 through participation in outdoor sport”.