Changes to All Ireland spectator rules 'unlikely', says Donnelly
Fans at the All Ireland Hurling Final Picture: Eddie O'Hare
Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly says it's unlikely there will be any changes to the rules for GAA matches in the coming weeks despite widespread criticism of the scenes surrounding the All Ireland Hurling Final.
Mr Donnelly said he would be surprised if there is a change in rules before this weekend’s football semi-final or the football final on September 11.
Despite a lack of mask-wearing inside Croke Park, Mr Donnelly said last Sunday’s All Ireland Hurling Final seemed to have been a well-run event “within the stadium” but that he had been concerned about the scenes of people socialising in large groups afterwards.
A number of pubs are being investigated by gardaí after large crowds gathered after the final in breach of public health laws.
The Minister encouraged anyone who feared they may have been in a high-risk group to get a PCR test to give themselves peace of mind.
Meanwhile, Mr Donnelly refused to say if live entertainment events would be given similar freedoms to the GAA in the weeks ahead.
Pressure to allow the return of large live entertainment events has been mounting in recent days and looked set to boil over after the images of large Croke Park crowds, including many people who were not socially distant .
At a briefing on Tuesday, Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan said he "wouldn't have a concern from a public health point of view" about large music and arts events going ahead, if confined to vaccinated people.
“We wouldn't have a concern from a public health point of view to express about an event that happened that was confined to vaccinated people,” he said.
While vaccinated people can be symptomatic and transmit the disease to other vaccinated people, he said the risk of this was “very, very small”.
Mr Donnelly acknowledged “there’s a lot of merit" to Dr Holohan's suggestion but refused to drawn on whether live events within the entertainment sector can now go ahead.
“We will be looking at what measures can be relaxed sooner than the four to six weeks and what measures can be relaxed once various criteria have been met including stabilisation of the current (Covid) surge," he told RTÉ's Morning Ireland.
Following the CMO’s comments, Melvin Benn of Festival Republic, which runs the Electric Picnic festival, demanded Laois County Council “immediately reverse” the decision it took to refuse the festival its licence.
Mr Benn said it should be granted immediately in line with the CMO’s conditions – that everyone attending should be vaccinated, which the festival's organisers had proposed a month ago.
“Change the decision Laois County Council and let’s have the Picnic. Tell us tomorrow and we are on our way," he added.
The anticipated number of guests at this year’s festival, should it go ahead, is up to 70,000 people per day.
Earlier this month, Laois County Council refused a licence to hold the 2021 Electric Picnic event "following the most up-to-date public health advice made available to the Council from the HSE".
The call comes as the Taoiseach announced he will meet with industry stakeholders following a meeting with the Arts Minister Catherine Martin on Tuesday.
Micheál Martin met with Ms Martin to discuss the coming roadmap for the reopening of society amid calls for the live music sector to reopen for the fully vaccinated.
The minister has come under increased pressure from the live entertainment sector after 40,000 people gathered in Croke Park on Sunday for the All-Ireland Hurling final.
“It was agreed that a meeting with industry stakeholders will take place next Monday, attended by both the Taoiseach and Tánaiste,” a statement from the Taoiseach’s office said.
This will follow the latest Nphet advice, due to be finalised at a meeting of the group today, and the deliberations of a Covid sub-committee this Friday, which the Arts Minister will attend.
Catherine Martin met with industry representatives before her meeting with the Taoiseach, who was invited to the meeting but did not attend.
A source close to Ms Martin said the meeting was "positive".
The Government has promised a roadmap to give the sector “clarity” after a Cabinet meeting next Tuesday.
Earlier on Tuesday, officials confirmed Ireland has the third-worst incidence rate of Covid-19 in Europe, with the current increases driven by the Delta wave.
Health officials forecast this should peak in the coming weeks, and plateau afterwards. That peak should be somewhere "between 2,000 and 5,000 cases" daily when it arrives, officials told a briefing on Tuesday.
This disease is mainly confined to "young, unvaccinated adults", with 70% of the 1,571 cases reported on Tuesday emerging in people who are either unvaccinated or partly vaccinated.
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