GAA pleads with government to allow 500 people at matches from next week

GAA President John Horan has pleaded with the government to allow 500 people to attend games from next week.

Outdoor gatherings of up to 500 people were due to be permitted from Monday, July 20 until it was decided earlier this week that phase 4 of Ireland’s roadmap to reopening has been deferred until August 10.

Horan appeared on RTÉ Radio 1’s Morning Ireland today and he feels that the decision is a “hammer blow to the organisation”. 200 people will still be allowed to attend games until August 10 but Horan wants to see the GAA granted permission to allow 500.

He said: “I openly call on the Taoiseach and Tánaiste to go back and review those figures for us as an organisation. The risk factor outside is 1 in 19 in comparison to indoors. We have stadia throughout the country which can cater from anything from 6,000 to 50,000 people.”

Horan also said that “if you work out the dimensions of a GAA pitch, it allows for social distancing of four metres between everybody attending the match. We have also encouraged everybody to wear face masks, so I think these figures are a bit severe on us as an organisation.”