Venues have nothing to do with decision to retain 200 crowd limit, says Ronan Glynn

The government today announced that crowd restrictions, limiting spectator numbers to a maximum of 200 people, will remain in place for outdoor events until August 31 at the earliest. Picture: INPHO/Ryan Byrne

Spectators congregating and travelling together to and from games are the reasons behind the Government’s decision to retain crowd restrictions at 200 people for outdoor events in the Republic of Ireland.

In what is another major blow for sports organisations who had hoped the limit would be eased to 500 as had been planned from July 20, acting chief medical officer Ronan Glynn said the size of stadia was irrelevant to the recommendation by the National Public Health Emergency Team to keep the cap in place until the end of the month.

“It’s very important that the message doesn’t go out that outdoors is in any way dangerous,” stated Glynn. “Outdoors is safer. 

"We want to encourage people to meet outdoors. Clearly, if you have a small number of people in a large stadium from a public health perspective there is no public health issue with that.

The concern is that people have to get to the stadium, they have to go home from the stadium, they congregate before and afterwards. 

"We have multiple instances of cases arising from people sharing transport, from households mixing. 

"This virus thrives when people mix, it thrives when people come together and it’s completely counter to what we as Irish people know and love to do, which is to meet up with people and to engage with one another.”

Dressing rooms remain closed for Gaelic Games and the 200 figure includes participants, that is players, management and officials, as well as media and stewards. 

The easing of crowd restrictions had been hoped for by the GAA and FAI as county club championship and League of Ireland fixtures currently take place.

Acting Chief Medical Officer, Dr Ronan Glynn: "This virus thrives when people mix, it thrives when people come together and it’s completely counter to what we as Irish people know and love to do, which is to meet up with people and to engage with one another.” Picture: Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin

As part of the Government’s roadmap to reopening Irish society, crowds for outdoor events were due to increase from 200 to 500 on July 20 as part of phase four. 

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However, the phase was paused and the club championships and League of Ireland commenced with paltry numbers of spectators. 

As the limit will remain in place until August 31 at least, the Pro14 Leinster-Munster and Connacht-Ulster games in the Aviva Stadium on August 22 will also be impacted.

Meanwhile, county GAA officials in Northern Ireland are hopeful in excess of 1,000 people will be able to attend games in the closing stages of their club championships.

After the Northern Ireland Executive left it at the discretion of venue owners to put limits on the number of spectators providing social distancing of two metres is respected, Ulster GAA recommended two capacities of 400 and 250 depending on the grounds having consulted with the GAA’s Covid advisory group.

For venues with perimeter fencing and viewing access on all four sides, 400 was designated as the limit with 250 for those grounds where there is no perimeter fencing. 

Those figures included essential match personnel. There is quiet confidence in the north that significant crowd numbers will be permitted for attractive club fixtures at county grounds in the coming weeks.

According to the NI Executive’s “Safe Return of Limited Spectators to Outdoor Sports Events” documents, risk assessments must be completed prior to an organised sporting event or fixture being held. 

A crowd management plan should also be in place, which details controlled entry and exit of spectators including staggering entry times and one-way systems inside the view to maintain social distancing and minimise the risk of crowd congestion.

Booking systems are also recommended as well as additional hygiene provision such as hand washing and sanitiser stations along with screens at catering and retail outlets.

Last week, the Irish Football Association agreed that 500 people would be permitted into Windsor Park for the Irish Cup final between Glentoran and Ballymena United. 

It is being suggested the Irish Premiership could start next month or October with 50% venue capacity.

The first senior finals in the six counties are the Armagh SFC and Antrim and Derry SHC deciders on the weekend of September 13 followed a week later by the Antrim, Down (both codes) and Tyrone football finals.

County finals in Ulster traditionally attract large crowds. 

Last year, an impressive 9,511 watched the Derry SFC final between Magherafelt and Glen in Celtic Park, while 6,095 attended the Tyrone showdown between Trillick and Errigal Ciarán in Healy Park.