Simon Coveney has slammed as “indefensible” the blatant breaches of public health guidelines at the weekend’s All Ireland hurling final.
The Minister for Foreign Affairs is a proud Corkman and he was in Croke Park on Sunday afternoon himself to see Limerick hammer his native county.
There were 40,000 permitted into the ground and TV footage of the day clearly showed that social distancing and mask-wearing was being ignored.
And it was even worse outside the ground where gardaí had to eventually step in and order pubs in the area to stop serving drink.
Mr Coveney has spoken out about the event on RTE’s Today with Claire Byrne show.
He said: “We [the Government] made a decision on the basis of a negotiation effectively with sporting associations, in this case the GAA, to allow certain sporting events to happen over the summer including the All Ireland.
“I think, if I’m honest, when you look at particularly the gatherings before and after the match, a lot of that is indefensible….. In terms of large numbers of people meeting in close proximity to each other.
“That isn’t how that is supposed to work.”
The arts and entertainment industry have been up in arms over the preferential treatment for sporting organisations.
They are looking for a level playing field, especially when it comes to outdoor events they may wish to stage.
