Thousands of tickets to see the Pope during his visit to Ireland have been snapped up by protestors who don't intend to use them.

All 45,000 tickets for the visit of Pope Francis to Knock in August have been booked as well as 70,000 for a series of World Meeting of Families events at the RDS, according the the organisers.

But a 'Say Nope To The Pope' Facebook page is encouraging people to book tickets online to see the pontiff but to bin them instead of going in an effort to ensure low attendance at the events.

The page has dozens of messages from people saying they have booked up to 12 tickets online but will not be using them.

One user wrote: "Booked my 12 tickets, chose not to donate as I am "donating" already through taxation."

Another user claimed they had booked 24 tickets and one claimed they managed to book 1,312 tickets that they don't intend to use.


People can book up to 12 tickets for the event in the Phoenix Park in Dublin but members of the Say Nope to the Pope claim they can make several bookings using the same email address.

The protest has been slammed online by people who are eager to secure tickets for the visit. One user wrote: "

According to the Times, an organiser for the World Meeting of Families said they are aware of the protest and that they have systems in place to check that all ticket bookings are valid.