News

September 21 'O-Day' for pubs

Monday 21st September now appears to be the date on which Ireland's 'wet pubs' will be allowed to re-open.

The Government is likely to decide to-day to authorise the reopening of pubs which do not serve food , after discussions with the National Public Health Emergency Team pub (NPHET) advised they should not open before that date.

The reopening of “wet” pubs, which have been closed since March, will be subject to strict regulations on social distancing and hygiene.

However the re-opening plan comes amid growing concern over rising levels of infections, particularly in Dublin and Limerick.

Irish pubs have experienced the longest lockdown in Europe and publicans have been lobbying in recent weeks to be allowed reopen.

Barrister slams restaurant regulations

The new regulations requiring pubs and restaurants to retain individual details of food consumed by patrons for 28 days have been described as “invasive, unnecessary, bureaucratic, restrictive and almost totalitarian” by one of top licensIreland's ng law experts. constancecassidy

Barrister Constance Cassidy SCtold the 'Irish Times' that the measures were “ill-judged, ill-considered, ill-formulated and ill-understood, even by the very Ministers responsible for [their] introduction”.

They were “a knee-jerk reaction more designed for public-relations benefits than for the benefits of the public’s safety health and welfare”, she said.

'Green List' revision this month

Tánaiste Leo Varadkar has said the Government's Green List for safe travel will not be updated until the publication of the medium-term roadmap on dealing with Covid-19 later beach0920 this month.

The list was to be reviewed on a fortnightly basis.

On 4 August, the Government removed five destinations from the list - Malta, Cyprus, Gibraltar, San Marino and Monaco.

Countries currently on the list are Estonia, Finland, Greece, Greenland, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway and Slovakia.

People returning from these countries will not have to restrict their movements for a 14-day period.

The National Public Health Emergency Team advice remains against all non-essential foreign travel, regardless of whether a country is on the Green List or not.

Consumers worried about pub closure

Almost two thirds of Irish consumers are concerned about the impact of prolonged pub closures on the local economy, according to new research from the Drinks Industry Grou garth0919 p of Ireland .

Rosemary Garth, Chair of DIGI and Director of Communications and Corporate Affairs at Irish Distillers, said:  

“The prolonged closure of pubs in Ireland is not only having a negative effect on those who are directly involved in the industry: it is having widespread impact on local communities.

The research, released as part of DIGI’s 'Support Your Local' campaign, reveals that over half of pubs are reported temporarily or permanently closed (56%) as a result of Covid-19 restrictions.

Table service rule for 'wet pubs'

A strict table service policy will be in place and counter service will be prohibited under draft guidelines for the reopening of pubs that do not serve food. thomas byrne

The draft Government guidelines, which were drawn up in conjunction with Fáilte Ireland, have been circulated to vintners' groups this weekend.

They are broadly the same as those that have been brought in for pubs where food is being served.

These include keeping customer records for contact tracing purposes and time slots which are limited to 1 hour and 45 minutes where physical distancing of 1 metre can be maintained.

However time slots of 105 minutes are not a requirement where physical distancing of 2 metres can be "strictly maintained".

Physical distancing is required between people from different households, but not between those from the same household.

While pubs that serve food reopened earlier this summer, so-called wet pubs which do not serve food have been closed since March.

The Government has begun a consultation process with vintners as efforts continue to try to find a way to allow them to re-open.

Minister for State Thomas Byrne (pictured) has said with the proper advice and guidelines, all pubs could reopen "within the next few weeks."