A CORONAVIRUS outbreak was sparked after a number of GAA players partied with fans after winning a county cup last week.
Galway-based club Moycullen claimed their maiden county cup win last Sunday after beating Mountbellew-Moylough, and decided to celebrate in a packed out parish with a number of supporters.
They may have enjoyed themselves at the time, but now a number of players have tested positive for Covid-19.
After further outbreak in the local community, the club have cancelled all upcoming activity, and have withdrawn their players from Galway's senior and youth sides.
A club source said: "Our lads went drinking on the Sunday and Monday. They did go to the pubs and they did have some drinks, but we had no control over that.
"The county final brought everybody out, maybe the alcohol then numbed the senses. It has been a harsh reality for people."
The club stressed that it hadn't planned any celebrations due to the pandemic, and the event their players went to wasn't sanctioned by them.
Moycullen celebrating winning the county title with a bit of harmless craic. Nothing bad will happen here. from r/ireland
Footage has emerged online appearing to show a number of Moycullen players drinking and singing in close capacity to a number of supporters, with social distancing rules being completely ignored.
On Sunday, the county was under Level 2 restrictions, which allowed pubs to serve alcohol with protective measures in place.
Moycullen chairman Paul Clancy said in a statement on Tuesday: "On learning of these cases in the club we immediately acted and have cancelled all activities to allow time for all the necessary actions to take place regarding contact tracing.
"Previous to this, the club had cancelled club celebrations after our county final win."
