Taoiseach Micheal Martin has announced that outdoor pitches, tennis courts and golf courses will reopen in April.

Golf courses in Ireland are set to reopen on April 26 as the government announces easing of several Covid-19 restrictions.

Golf courses have been closed throughout 2021m since Level 5 restrictions were reintroduced due to rising Covid-19 cases over Christmas.

Irish golf courses will reopen on April 26.

This has been the third and longest period of golf courses being closed in Ireland. Between March and May 2020, courses were closed and again between October and December last year

On Tuesday, Taoiseach Micheal Martin announced that from April 26 outdoor pitches, tennis courts and golf courses will reopen. While outdoor sports training for children in pods of 15 will resume. And outdoor visitor attractions, such as zoos, wildlife parks, and heritage sites, will all reopen.

Inter-county GAA training is also set for a return a week earlier on April 19.

With golf courses and tennis courts reopening, it means up to half a million people will be able to play sport again in an outdoor setting. Clubhouses and any indoor facilities will have to remain closed.

Golf Ireland welcome the return of the sport.

Mark Kennelly, the chief executive of Golf Ireland, has welcomed the return of golf.

“The first thing I would say, on behalf of the golfers of Ireland, is that we’re very happy,” Kennelly told Morning Ireland on RTÉ.

“Obviously we would have preferred an earlier date, but we now have a definite date for the resumption of golf and we’ve been making that case to Government for some time, that golf is a sport that can be played safely, as we proved and the golf clubs of Ireland proved through most of 2020.

“What we’re talking about for 26 April for golf is quite different because it’s a return to mass participation in all of our over 300 clubs in the State.

“That’s a big moment for Irish golf.

“We are confident and we are really expecting that this will be the last reopening, that golf will open permanently on that date, and we’re going to spend the next three weeks or so working with our clubs to prepare protocols to keep our golfers in our communities safe.”