Organisers of the Pope’s visit to Ireland have moved to allay people’s fears over the logistical challenges in getting to see the pontiff.

Half a million people are expected to attend the Papal Mass in Dublin’s Phoenix Park when Pope Francis visits Ireland next week to attend the World Meeting of Families (WMOF).

A further 250,000 people will be attending events at the RDS, Croke Park and Knock.

It will be the first visit to Ireland by a pope since John Paul II in 1979.

Gardai have asked visitors to prepare for the same challenges as climbing Croagh Patrick as they will have to walk considerable distances to gain access.

The Mass is the main event of the two-day visit by the pontiff.

WMOF organiser Brenda Drumm said people will be supported as they make their way through the park.

“If you’re taking public transport there will be helpers, there will be stewards, the Gardai will be here in force and all across the city,” Ms Drumm said.

“If you’re feeling a little bit tired there will be rest and care stops, there will be water available, there will be all sorts of people around you who will only be too happy to reach out and help people.

“A lot of people are looking at this as a kind of a pilgrimage, what we are saying to people is that this is not a race.”

In total there will be 1,600 stewards to assist attendees on the day, 1,000 of whom will be positioned inside the park itself and 600 lining the routes into the location.

Some 7,000 WMOF-trained and Garda-vetted volunteers are also helping people get to and from the Mass.

More than 1,000 medical providers will be on duty, with a skill set ranging from community first responders to doctors. There will be 26 aid posts in place along the numerous pedestrian routes and within Phoenix Park.

Ms Drumm said that people need to do their homework and plan their journey from start to finish before leaving home.

People attending the event are being urged to use public transport.

Pope Francis visit to Ireland
The Papal cross in Dublin’s Phoenix Park (Brian Lawless/PA)

On site, workers have been busy constructing the stage beneath the Papal Cross, which was erected for the visit of Pope John Paul II almost 40 years ago.

Ms Drumm said: “It’s a huge, huge, huge build. We’ll have people here right up until hours before the Mass begins.

“It will look very, very different in a week’s time when Pope Francis stands here on the altar and looks out at a sea of 500,000 people.”

Singer and composer Fr Liam Lawton will have the honour of performing an originally composed psalm along with a choir of 3,000 people for Pope Francis.

“I’ve been very privileged to have been asked to write the psalm of the day,” Fr Lawton said.

Pope Francis visit to Ireland
Seating being installed at the site in Phoenix Park (Laura Hutton/PA)

The psalm is called The Lord Hears The Cry Of The Poor.

“It is basically very much in keeping with the theology of the Pope himself,” he said.

On a visit to the site on Friday, Fr Bryan Shortall said he was very excited about the event.

As a young boy he was one of the thousands who turned up to see Pope John Paul II in 1979.

“It was absolutely amazing,” Fr Shortall said.

“I kind of think that maybe that was the day – as my vocation percolated, I think that was the day that I felt that maybe I’d become a priest.”