A total of 40,000 GAA fans will be allowed to attend next month’s All-Ireland hurling and football finals in Croke Park. Some 24,000 spectators will also be permitted to attend the four semi-finals in the same venue next week. Minister of State for Sport Jack Chambers confirmed the figures this afternoon, according to The Irish Times. 25,000 fans will be allowed in the Aviva Stadium for upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Azerbaijan and Serbia. A maximum attendance of 18,000 has been permitted at recent games due to Covid-19 restrictions.

This is an important signal of how far we have come as a country

Mr Chambers said: “I am delighted to announce increased attendances for the All-Ireland semi-finals and finals as well as two World Cup Qualifiers. “This is an important signal of how far we have come as a country. “From the start of this process I stated we wanted to be ambitious around getting supporters back in stadia all around the country and the figures for the upcoming games show that is exactly what is happening. “I am really pleased we have implemented a very careful return of crowds starting with smaller numbers at first and gradually increasing over the summer months. “The pilot events have been a great success and have shown how live sporting and other events can be held in a safe manner.”

Super-spreader events

On Thursday, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said the Government was looking at the issue, while also saying it wanted to avoid “super-spreader events.” Mr Martin said there had been some evidence for spikes in cases of the virus in the UK after European Championship matches, but in Ireland it has been “so far so good on the sporting front”. The All-Ireland hurling final will take place on Sunday, August 22nd and the football final is on August 29th. The Republic of Ireland face Azerbaijan in the Aviva Stadium on September 4th and play Serbia three days later on the 7th.