Basketball Ireland has welcomed the easing of government restrictions that will see all levels of indoor basketball in Ireland return on September 20th.
This comes after the Irish government’s latest announcement which informed us that the majority of restrictions are set to be lifted by Friday, October 22.
Basketball Ireland have stated that, until October 22, there will be a capacity limit of 100 people for indoor group activities where all those involved are immune – either fully vaccinated or recovered from Covid-19 within the last 6 months, or accompanied minors (under 18).
“This has been a long arduous 17 months or so for the basketball community,” said Basketball Ireland CEO Paddy Boyd. “Our clubs, players, officials and volunteers have suffered and to finally have a return date for all levels of our sport is excellent news.
“The fact that our clubs can have spectators at events, up to 60% of venue capacity, is brilliant. It is great timing with our senior National League sides allowed to resume pre-season fixtures from September 13th and the National League starting from October 9th/10th.”
From September 6th, indoor events can take place with a 60% capacity limit where patrons are immune – those attending must be fully seated at arenas.
Where patrons have mixed immunity status, there will be no change to the current restrictions during September.
Chair of Basketball Ireland’s ‘Return to Play’ group, Charles Higgins, said: “We will issue a full breakdown of the new restrictions later this week to our basketball community, so they can plan in anticipation of September 20th. We shall be seeking clarifications from Sport Ireland on some of the guidelines issued by government today.
“I really want to express my gratitude to the basketball community who have persevered throughout this elongated period without the sport. They have shown huge resilience, adapting to outdoor basketball when indoor wasn’t possible. Now the reward is there and there is huge excitement to finally get the chance to be back indoors on a court and get our sport up and running fully again.
“I’d also like to thank my fellow members of the ‘Return to Play’ group who have helped navigate our sport through this torrid time, with situations changing regularly. We have tried to guide our basketball community through it all as best as possible and we shall continue to do so.”
