The director-general of the Health Service Executive has denied breaching government guidelines on mask-wearing while enjoying hospitality at a football game in the Aviva Stadium last month.
Photographs supplied to The Sunday Times show Paul Reid standing and talking to other guests while not wearing a mask in the Football Association of Irelandās presidentās suite.
Official guidelines for pubs and restaurants at the time said: āFace coverings must be worn by customers at all times other than when seated at their table.ā
The pictures, taken during the Ireland game against Portugal, also show both Roy Barrett, the FAI chairman, and fellow board member Joseph OāBrien standing up without masks as the former Ireland manager John Giles posed for pictures. Niall Quinn, the ex-international and former interim deputy chief executive of the FAI, is also visible in one photo.
A source at the event said there was a dinner before the match at which Drew Harris, the garda commissioner, Heather Humphreys, who was then justice minister, and housing minister Darragh OāBrien were among the guests.
The source said that he did not see any of that trio walking around without masks in the suite but was surprised by the number of other people doing so.
The only person who is visibly wearing a mask in the two photos obtained by The Sunday Times is a female member of the waiting staff.
Giles and Paula Gorham, a former womenās international who was in one of the photos, were presented with an FAI āHall of Fameā award on the pitch at half-time in the Ireland game. A friend of Giles said he attended the suite before and after the match wearing a mask, and took it off only to pose for a number of photographs.
The sold-out Portugal match was the first time the FAI had been able to host with the full attendance of almost 51,000 since the start of the pandemic. That week Colm Henry, the HSEās chief clinical officer, asked all those attending sports matches to wear masks.
A statement issued by the HSE press office said: āPaul Reid wore a mask throughout the match, and also while indoors at the event. However, he would have removed it when sitting at a table if eating or having a drink, and believes these photos may have been taken after he stood up to talk to someone who who approached him. He is a very conscientious observer of mask-wearing rules and etiquette.ā
The FAI said: āWe complied with all government guidelines around indoor catering in operation at the time of the Portugal game at the Aviva Stadium. As per those guidelines, all those present at the dinner event you refer to were fully vaccinated against Covid-19.ā
Guidelines at the time permitted up to ten adults per table. Separate advice for live entertainment venues and nightclubs said that facemasks āshould be worn in all indoor venuesā by patrons āother when they are dancing, drinking or eatingā.
The government guidance is that most cases of Covid are spread through close contact and droplets that come from peopleās noses and mouths, especially when they sneeze, cough or talk loudly.
āWearing a face covering/mask reduces the spread of these droplets and aerosols,ā the guidelines state. āIt further prevents the spread of the virus from people who may not know they have it.ā