There won't be fans back at matches in time for the All Ireland finals, but the Government is hoping to facilitate some crowds at the Six Nations.

Minister of State for Sport, Jack Chambers, has met with the European council of sports ministers and speaking on Newstalk Breakfast, he says he is optimistic there is light at the end of the tunnel.

"My hope would be that in the early part of the New Year and being hopeful that we are in a public health context at either levels one and two that we can see some test events in the New Year and hopefully many of our fans that are a key part of our sporting culture and our nation can potentially return to games."

The EU may not give regulatory approval until early January to the number of vaccines that are set to innoculate populations.

Ireland's first Six Nations match of 2021 will be at home to France on February 14th.

Chambers feels this is a realistic ballpark for the return of some fans to venues such as the Aviva Stadium.

"The Six Nations in my view would be a definite possibility. The IRFU have been involved in this working group. In the first instance, we'll have a percentage of fans, so we'll probably run six or eight trials with specific controls in place. The whole principle of this is to ensure that you have a controlled environment and you adhere to best international practice so that you manage the entry and exit properly.

"It will be a different sporting experience for many fans, but I'm hopeful that we can see some of our sporting fixtures in the spring, whether it's GAA, football, or rugby, where we'll be able to have our fans back at games. If that works well and we can update our guidance accordingly, that combined with hopefully a better public health context in 2021 will be a pathway back to some degree of normality for sporting fans."