A REAL shame.
The Irish Government has rejected a proposal from Leinster Rugby that would have seen 2,000 fans allowed attend games at the RDS.
The plans would have seen Leinster host home games at 11% capacity, with two-metres of distance between fans.
It would also have featured rapid antigen testing taking place beforehand, and it was proposed to come into play this month.
However, the proposal has been shut down, and told that it can not proceed while Ireland remains under Level 5 Covid-19 restrictions.
In relation to the progress of Leinster’s proposal, the Department of TCAGSM released a statement to The42 which reads:
"Under the Government’s living with Covid-19 plan spectators are permitted to attend sporting events in limited numbers when the relevant area of the country is at Level 1 or at Level 2 of the measures in place to keep us all safe.
"As the country is currently at Level 5 no spectators are permitted at sports matches or events. However, professional and high performance sports are permitted to take place behind closed doors."
Minister for Sport Jack Chambers said earlier in the week that the Government does remain hopeful that fans will be allowed to return to sporting events at some point during the summer.
He said: "We have a return-to-spectators plan that’s been drafted and we would like to do test events during the summer."
