Anthony Daly feels the GAA didn't do enough to regain their 'elite status'.

Minister of State for Sport Jack Chambers had said that the GAA had no "massive appetite" to return to on-field activity in the immediate term when he spoke with officials of the Association after the Government's decision to withdraw the Level 5 exemption for gaelic games. But John Horan, then GAA President, rejected Chambers' comments and revealed they were "not in any rush" to get back and activities would only resume when it was safe to do so amid Covid-19 concerns.

The GAA are close to returning to action now following last Thursday's announcement of the revised fixtures calendar for 2021. The Allianz Leagues are due to begin next month (May 8), while collective training for inter-county teams is permitted from Monday week, April 19.

Clare's 1995 and '97 All-Ireland winning captain Daly says more could have been done to get an earlier start on things but is looking forward to the season ahead.

"If we'd held our elite status we'd probably be playing our league finals this weekend and next," told RTÉ's Sunday Sport programme.

"Maybe that was a mistake. Once we opted not to look for that or to be given that we were tied with what we could do.

"It's as good as we could have expected given what has happened. There are few questions marks there. Minor and U20, we don't know about that. I think there's eleven county finals to be finished from last year.

"There are issues but it's good to have some structure and we can hope that things go according to plan and just get the show on the road."

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