Minister for Health Simon Harris told RTÉ News on Tuesday evening that the Six Nations game between Ireland and Italy in Dublin, which is scheduled to be played on March 7th, should be called off due to fears regarding Coronavirus.
"We'll be publishing guidelines in relation to mass gatherings shortly," he told RTÉ News.
"We've obviously taken a decision in relation to the Ireland vs Italy rugby game, which was due to be held in Dublin on March 7th.
"The very clear view of the Public Health Emergency Team was that this game should not go ahead; that it would constitute a significant because a very large number of people would be travelling from what is now an affected region.
"My department will be contacting the IRFU in relation to this."
11 towns in Italy have been put into quarantine after over 200 people tested positive for Coronavirus and seven died.
Minister for Health Simon Harris has said the Ireland v Italy Six Nations game scheduled for Dublin next month should not go ahead due to the coronavirus outbreak in northern Italy pic.twitter.com/ibpgpI9RlQ
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) February 25, 2020
UPDATE: In response, the IRFU put its own statement out tonight calling for an urgent meeting with the Government to address this issue:
The IRFU is seeking an urgent meeting with Minister Harris as to the specific reasoning behind calling for the cancellation of the Ireland V Italy Six Nations fixture in the context of the Government’s overall travel policy to and from Italy and other affected countries.
Until such time as the IRFU has had contact with the Minister and gets an understanding of the government’s strategic policy on travel to and from Ireland and the cancellation of mass gatherings, it is not in a position to comment further.
In a tweet sent on Tuesday evening, Minister Harris said: "Pleased to confirm I will meet with the IRFU in the morning. Today’s decision was not taken lightly but we must act on the basis of public health advice."
