As the island of Ireland continues high-level Covid -19 restrictions, the NI Executive Restrictions for a circuit breaker from 12.01am (early) on 27th November 2020 have now had some clarification. The COVID-19 Working Group have put together a list of questions and answers to continue to assist clubs in NI.
We are in continuous communication with Sport Northern Ireland for the latest updates and clarification to ensure we as a sport continue to operate within the guidelines laid down by the relevant authorities.
At Rowing Ireland, our number one priority at this time is the health and safety of all our members. We ask all our Affiliated Clubs and registered members to continue to observe the guidelines during these unprecedented times.
We must play our part in reducing the R number throughout the island.
We are all Rowing Ireland.
Rowing Ireland Covid-19 protocols for NI Affiliated Clubs (includes school and university clubs)
Frequently asked questions:
| FAQ’s | Question | Answer | Reasoning (Information Resource) |
| 1 | Can rowers train in crew boats? | No | Unless ‘Elite’. |
| 2 | Can rowers travel to clubs? | No. | Rowers can only travel where this is essential. |
| 3 | Can individual rowers go out in sculls from the club/ school/ university? | No | Individual outdoor exercise is allowed but not at clubs. |
| 4 | Can club/ school/ university boathouses remain open? | No | Club facilities for indoor and outdoor exercise, to remain closed. |
| 5 | Can Gyms with plenty of room and ventilation be used while maintaining social distancing and apply strict sterilization protocols? | No | Gyms are to remain closed. |
| 6 | Can more than one group of 10 train outdoors at the same time? | No | There is to be no group activity at clubs. |
| 7 | Can events for non-elite athletes take place? | No | The limitations on organised indoor and outdoor gatherings make it impossible to hold any Head of the River/ time trial, indoor rowing or similar organised events at this time. |
| 8 | Does our club need to keep contact details of parents/ carers attending sessions? | Yes | A log of all people attending club sites, with contact information for contact tracing purposes should be recorded to enable contact tracing, should it be required. |
| 9 | Should our club have a COVID-19 Compliance Officer? | Yes | Designating COVID compliance officers is useful to help with coordination of risk mitigation actions. |
Any club or group that is not in a position to apply these measures or enforce them should remain closed.
