University College Cork professor Liam Fanning says he expects test events to be held in the coming weeks.
(Source: Wikimedia Commons)There are hopes that thousands of people could be able to go to sporting events here from July.
It comes after a new UK study found that large events could be as safe as going to a shopping centre.
Currently, gatherings here are limited to a maximum of 50 people, and even then, only at weddings and funerals.
A virus expert has said up to 20,000 people could be able to go to the All Ireland finals when they are played later this year.
University College Cork professor Liam Fanning says he thinks that because Croke Park can usually cater for a crowd of 80,000, it should be possible to have 20,000 people attend these matches.
He also says he expects test events to be held in the coming weeks:
"There'll be some trial events around the country, I think we'll tentatively go where we haven't gone before with respect to these events.
"I think June and July will be the time to try these out with [crowds of] 100, then up to 1,000 and then up it to a bit more."
Planning
Aviva stadium director Martin Murphy says planning for test matches is underway:
"We're aiming for 3,000 in Aviva and Croke Park don't have events until later, and they would probably have bigger crowds than that."
It's not just sporting events like the All Ireland finals that could be on the agenda over the next while.
Sunil Sharpe from the Give Us The Night campaign group says live music should also make a comeback.
"I definitely think we should be starting [with] 250, 500, 1,000, 2,000 and just work our way up."
The government is expected to give more detail on the reopening of sport and entertainment next week.
