Air travel and hospitality to resume in July as part of gradual reopening
The Munster hurling clash between All-Ireland champions Limerick and Cork is among the trial events that will have crowds.
The most significant reopening of society since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic has been announced as Taoiseach Micheál Martin said the "end is within our grasp".
The resumption of international travel and indoor dining from July as well as the return of spectators at large sporting and cultural events are among the most substantial aspects of the announcement.
Hotels will reopen and outdoor dining will be allowed from early next month.
The Government has also announced a long list of pilot events, including a concert in Dublin's Iveagh Gardens on June 10, camogie league finals in Croke Park on June 20, and the Irish Derby meeting in the Curragh over the weekend of June 25.
Dublin's Phoenix Park will also host a music festival with 3,500 people on June 26 and there will be indoor opera in the University of Limerick Concert Hall on June 23.
The Munster hurling clash between All-Ireland champions Limerick and Cork is also among the trial events that will have crowds.
Leinster's Pro14 tie with Dragons at the RDS will go ahead in front of 1,200 fans and spectators will be allowed into the Irish Open at Mount Juliet.
Mr Martin said: "We're almost back to a point where we can just enjoy the ordinary extraordinary moments in our lives".
He said close to 100% of people over the age of 70 are now fully vaccinated, which is unsurpassed across the EU.
However, the Taoiseach warned that continued progress is not inevitable as "change brings risk" and an ad hoc group with officials in his department is to be set up to closely monitor the Indian variant both here and in the UK.
Mr Martin confirmed Ireland has adopted the EU Digital Green Cert which will allow the return of international travel from July 19.
Transport Minister Eamon Ryan said flying itself has been shown to be "relatively safe", however, he said the movement of people through airports will have to be monitored.
"When you have any form of checking, and we will have formal checking of the digital Covid cert, just to verify it, that can lead to backlogs within the terminal and requires really careful management.
"So a lot of work will have to be done in our airports to try and minimise that," Mr Ryan said.
The US, Belgium, France, and Luxembourg were last night removed from the mandatory hotel quarantine list.
While the announcements were broadly welcomed, those in the hospitality industry strongly criticised the decision to allow hotels open their restaurants to residents from June 2, while pubs and restaurants must wait until the following month to serve customers indoors.
Tánaiste Leo Varadkar said those businesses that are only able to open outdoors throughout June will continue to get the Covid-19 Restrictions Support Scheme payments and will receive a one-off bonus payment in July.
Separately, Minister Catherine Martin announced new grants of up to €4,000 to help pubs that do not serve food to enhance their outdoor seating capacity and weatherproof service areas.
She said this would help enhance a ‘European-style’ outdoor hospitality approach.
From June 7, up to 200 people will be allowed attend outdoor events in venues with a minimum capacity of 5,000, up to 100 can attend other outdoor events. Cinemas and theatres will also reopen on this date.
The driver theory test and driver test centres will also resume next month.
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