Sporting events can operate at full capacity from Saturday after the government removed restrictions on attendance at outdoor and indoor events.
An Taoiseach Micheál Martin said 'today is a good day' as he addressed the nation at 6pm on Friday evening to announce that a wide range of measures would be rolled back.
The government have opted to roll back the majority of restrictions in hospitality as well as removing all curtailments of capacity at outdoor and indoor sporting events.
NPHET offered no objections to the unwinding of regulations brought in last month in response to the marked rise in Covid-19 infections.
Attendance at outdoor sporting events has been limited to 50% of capacity or a maximum of 5,000 spectators, while indoor events have been limited to 1,000 spectators.
A record 26.122 daily cases were reported on January 8 as the Omicron variant continued to spread rapidly but the numbers had declined to 5,523 by Thursday.
The cabinet met at government buildings at 3pm and agreed to a widespread easing of regulations, which will allow sporting events to return to full attendance.
That will be music to the ears of the IRFU, who have been anxiously awaiting news ahead of the Six Nations opener with Wales at the Aviva Stadium on February 5.
The news will also be welcomed by the GAA ahead of tomorrow’s O’Byrne Cup final, which will see Dublin face Laois at Parnell Park.
The two All-Ireland club hurling semi-finals are also due to take place this weekend, as Slaughtneil of Derry face Waterford’s Ballygunner at Parnell Park on Sunday.
Ballyhale Shamrocks of Kilkenny will play St Thomas’ of Galway in the other semi-final at Semple Stadium while Munster host Wasps at Thomond Park as they look to guarantee a home last 16 tie in the Rugby Champions Cup.
And the National Basketball Arena in Tallaght will see Garvey’s Tralee Warriors take on C&S Neptune of Cork in the National Cup final.
Speaking earlier this week on Morning Ireland, rugby fan and Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly was cautious while expressed he would like to see full capacity return.
“If advance warning could be given for people to plan, I think that would be fantastic, but I just don’t want to raise hopes in an unhelpful way,” he said.
“I bumped into a hero of mine, Johnny Sexton, earlier this week. He, very understandably, said, ‘can we get back to a full crowd at Lansdowne Road for the Wales game? As we did for the autumn internationals.’
“I can tell you there is nothing I would like more than to hear the roar of 50,000 people at the start of February.
“We have to get the balance right. We need to move forward, and put Omicron behind us, but not be foolish and move too quickly. That causes risks we don’t need to deal with.”
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