Donegal star Deirdre Foley on the front line fight against Covid-19

By Frank Craig

Donegal ladies star Deirdre Foley, a junior doctor at Galway
University Hospital, admits that she and her colleagues are bracing
themselves at this moment.

Ireland, like the rest of the world, is currently in lockdown mode
with the grasp of the Covid-19 pandemic beginning to tighten. But for
Foley, from a professional standpoint anyway, it’s very much the calm
before the storm.

She was due to depart for Austin, Texas on Tuesday as part of the 2019
Ladies GAA All-Star trip. Instead, she finds herself playing a very
different type of game – a waiting one.

All surgeries in her hospital, bar cancer procedures, have now ceased.
There’s an uneasy placidness to matters but she knows what’s coming
hurtling down the track.

“At the moment, it’s still only really a preparation phase,” the 2018
All-Star nominee said. “It’s quite calm. But it’s coming. We’re still
a little behind in the numbers compared to Dublin.

“Speaking to colleagues there… you know it’s coming your way. We’re
waiting to be redeployed to different teams within the hospital. It’s
a waiting game.

“We know it’s going to be difficult. But we just have to make sure
we’re as best prepared as we can be. People probably feel a bit
helpless. That’s the one thing about this pandemic, we’d love to have
another thousand ICU beds.

“But the reality is, the best thing people can do to help save lives
is the simple things like staying at home and isolating.

“I don’t know if we’ll ever experience this in our lives again where
the most important thing is to do nothing. It’s a strange one.

“The majority of the country are doing that. There will always be some
that don’t do it or some that become unintentionally complacent.

That’s why we’ve moved to this next stage now. That decision wouldn’t
have been taken lightly. But the government are listening to the right
people, they’re listening to professionals.

“These next two to three weeks are going to be critical on us getting
a handle on this. We don’t want to have any regrets.”

It’s irrelevant now but Foley had seemed to have put an injury ravaged
2019 season behind her and appeared back in that familiar, no nonsense
groove in the half back line with the reigning Ulster champions during
the NFL.

Training and exercising are two very different things. But for Foley
and her Tir Chonaill teammates now, it’s about ticking over and
retaining some hope that their work won’t all be in vain. For others,
she advices to keep some form of structure and routine in their lives.

“I think people are finding it hard. I know I am. Not getting to see
everyone and not getting to play ball, of course you’ll miss it.

“But it’ll give everyone a chance to work on specific things like
injury prevention. We all have our running programmes. I’d made the
decision to stop going to the gym a while back before they closed.

“Now everyone is on the home workout programme.

“I’m sure it’s the same for the fellas, everyone is putting together
makeshift gyms at home and managing as best they can.

“It’s a balancing act. You try to not miss it too much. But you also
have to keep a certain level of focus if it does come back.

“Hopefully it will. And the intention would be to be ready for that if
and when it does.”

She added: “A lot of people rely on sport and exercise. It’s a very
important part of life for so many. For me, it’s a little easier maybe
at the minute as I still get to go to work everyday if that makes sense?

“Others, they are finding it really tough as their routine and their
lives have just been turned upside down. So many people now are
confined to their homes. That’s tough on a variety of levels.

“Sports people are more likely to keep up their habits and routine for
the simple fact that they will all be harbouring hopes that we’ll get
a handle on this and there’ll be some sort of season still to play out at the end of it all.

“For the people who went to the gym for a release – they’ll obviously
be finding this really tough. Sports people still have a little bit of
pressure on them and you need that to make sure you’re getting the
work done with the hope it’ll not be in vain. It’s just a case of
ticking over.”

Football will now, for once, take a backseat in the Carndonagh
native’s life.

If any good can come out of this current plight she hopes that people
will finally realise what’s really important in life and what’s not
when ever some semblance of normality eventually returns.

“What this has shown us is that sport isn’t everything. It’s put some
perspective on that. We’re in this constant bubble where it’s the
principle thing in your life most of the time.

“I knew this was coming maybe a few days before anyone else. I just
knew it (season) was going to have to be put on hold. There was this
fear that some people might ignore it.

“But I have to say the GAA took a really strong stance and lead on it.
There was an initial attitude of like ‘sure it’s only 30 people on a
pitch’. But that quickly disappeared as the magnitude and seriousness
of it all dawned on people.

“I think the GAA did the right thing right away. And they deserve
credit.”

There had been some concern at the beginning of all of this that some
county set ups might still attempt to meet up or steal a yard under
stealth or behind closed doors.

But the rapid spread of the pandemic and the realisation of the
seriousness of the situation has meant those fears never materialised.

“It would just have led to even bigger problems down the road,” she
explained. “A whole team could have tested positive and that would
have had horrible consequences.

“We all love our sport but we’ve realised the last few weeks that
there are more important things in life. And that’s the hope I have
when all of this passes. I hope we all come out of it with a better
perspective on everything.

“In a sporting set up, especially a county one, you can become
obsessed. A lot of people might have felt those initial measures were
an overreaction. But I felt it was an underreaction.

“Having been faced with talk about this every day, right from the very
start, you knew some big decisions and sacrifices were going to have
to be made to get a handle on it.”

Sitting tight and reducing the acceleration of the spread of the virus
is the main aim. Ireland is now officially in a two-week lockdown with
all non-essential trips banned.

The major measures were announced by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar at the
weekend, in addition to the strict restrictions already in place. The
only exceptions are for travelling to essential work, to shop for food
or household goods, for healthcare appointments and for vital family
reasons.

“It feels a little surreal at times,” Foley said on those latest
measures. “Absolutely everything has stopped. Families, Ireland is a
really tight knit community and the distance there now, especially
with the likes of grandparents, it’s heartbreaking.

“But if we follow the guidelines and what’s being asked, we will get
back to all of that good stuff. People are rowing in behind each other
and you see the initiative that the GAA has taken.

“Clubs are really making a difference in their parishes, looking after
those isolated or most vulnerable. That’s really heartening to see.”