The Republic's Government has confirmed the anticipated relaxation of some Covid-19 restrictions, though the first meaningful changes do not come into action for another two weeks.
The bad news is that group training, racing and sportives will not be returning soon. But, there is a definite sense now of light at the end of the tunnel, with the first moves being made to prepare for the return of sports training.
While the Government had signaled months ago that the next batch of changes to the rules would not come until April 5th, the measures announced today keep the current restrictions in place until April 12, in a bid to ensure people don't let their guards down over the coming Easter Weekend.
The vaccine programme is about to significantly ramp up for April and that is set to be maintained for the following months. The Government has decided to hold off for another month before introducing any major relaxation of restrictions that would be required for the return of races and sportives.
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Taoiseach Micheál Martin gave a public address this evening and set out the road ahead, for all sectors of society including sport, saying: “Less than two weeks from now all of our children will be back at school. In four weeks many of our outdoor sporting facilities will be open again.
“We are on the final stretch of this terrible journey. This summer businesses and our public services will safely reopen. We will finally be meeting and enjoying the company of friends and family again.”
5km rule on exercise
It's after April 12th that cyclists in the Republic will notice the first changes. At that point, the rule that limits cyclists to within 5km of home when exercising will lapse and we will be able to exercise - go out on our bikes - anywhere within our home county and also within a 20km radius of home.
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That 20km rule means if we live close to a county boundary we won't be overly restricted by the location of our home. We'll be able to cycle anywhere in our home county and also 20km from home, even if that takes us outside our home county.
So in two weeks from now, any cyclist in the Republic will have a much bigger range of roads to train on than at present.
Training partners and groups
From April 12th, next Monday week, people from two households can meet outside. While there was no mention of sport in this "people meeting outside" measure, one assumes it also applies to sport - though Cycling Ireland will likely soon confirm that.
There was no detail set out about exactly what sports would return and when, for both competition and training. However, some key indicators have been confirmed for sports.
From April 19th senior inter-county GAA panels will be able to meet to train and high-performance athletes, including cyclists, will also be able to train; with those athletes to be confirmed by Sport Ireland. It is also envisaged inter county GAA matches can resume from May 15th-16th.
From April 26th facilities such as outdoor pitches,
tennis courts and golf courses will open again. That will not impact cycling as
cyclists will already be free, from April 12th, to train on the road either
solo or with people from their own household and one other household.
Outdoor sports training for children, including cycling,
will be permitted in pods of 15. That means full group training for cyclists of
school-going age will be permitted from April 26th.
In the last week in April the Government will review the possibility of further re-openings across all sectors, including a possible full return to training for adults in all non contact sports and the re-opening of hospitality, including pubs, may occur in June.
In short, while there is some movement for cycling from April 12th, it's cautious and minimal. And there is no date set yet for a return to full group training for adults and events like racing and sportives, though we should have a firmer shape on that in about four weeks.
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