Gardai are warning that anyone without a ticket will not get near Knock when the Pope comes to visit there in August.
And it also seems that people expecting to see the Pope as he travels along the N17 from Ireland West Airport to Knock are likely to be disappointed.
Demand from the public to see the Pope when he travels to Knock next August resulted in all 45,000 tickets made available recently having been snapped up almost as soon as they could be got.
And the people who have them are the lucky ones unless some of them have been obtained by those in the Nope to the Pope Campaign, who claim they will not use use them.
Gardai have not yet announced details of their traffic plan for the mammoth event.
But Superintendent Tom Calvey of Claremorris Garda Station made one thing very clear when he spoke to Ocean FM News and that was that those without a ticket will not get near Knock.
An exclusion zone will be set up miles from the village, with gardai checking everyone coming through.
Supt. Calvey also said the Pope will travel from Ireland West Airport to Knock along the N17 in an ordinary-type vehicle, travelling at ordinary speed.
Therefore, chances of people actually seeing the Pope as he travels along the route are unlikely.
The Pope is expected to touch down at the airport between Knock and Charlestown at 9:20am on Sunday morning, August 26th.
He will arrive in Knock about a half hour later.
He’s due to leave Knock at 10:45, arriving back at the airport for an 11:10am flight to Dublin.
Overall, his visit to County Mayo will be less than two hours.
