Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly has said that an increased capacity for the All-Ireland SFC final at Croke Park in 10 days’ time is “unlikely”.

With the majority of restrictions set to be eased by the end of next month, the government also confirmed yesterday that outdoor venues are set to be allowed at 75% capacity from this Monday, September 6.

As it stands, 40,000 spectators are allowed to attend Croke Park next Saturday week, September 11 for the clash of Mayo and Tyrone and, speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland programme, Mr Donnelly does not see that figure increasing.

"I'd say it's unlikely," he said. "What we had is agreement on a 50% capacity, so about 40,000 people be they vaccinated or unvaccinated. Sixty thousand people fully vaccinated in my view is probably a lower risk than 40,000 people.

"Remember 90% of the adult population is already vaccinated. So if you had an adult population in Croke Park regardless the vast, vast majority in there are fully vaccinated anyway.

"I was talking to Minister Jack Chambers about it and they spend a lot of time working with the sports organisations on whether or not the events themselves are causing outbreaks.

"Interestingly the events are very well run and there isn't a lot of data suggesting there are super spreader events from the stadiums.

"When you talk to the local testing teams what they find is back in the counties [involved] they begin to see outbreaks because people are going to watch the match in pubs or in people's houses."

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