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.