News

NI Hospitality to close again

Northern Ireland will again shut non-essential retail, pubs and restaurants for two weeks from November 27 to save the health service from becoming swamped. crownbar0720

The North was poised to emerge from a limited circuit-breaker lockdown until the number of infections rose to worrying levels.

Close-contact services and cafes can open this Friday as planned but will have to close again next Friday, while other hospitality sectors like pubs and licensed restaurants will remain closed throughout, Stormont ministers said.

Takeaway hospitality will be allowed but leisure and entertainment venues will be closed.

The measures were taken as top doctors warned hospitals could otherwise be overwhelmed.

'Elongated recovery' for Dalata

Dalata says that its business could be facing a longer-than-expected period of recovery to pre-Covid trading levels, according to analysts. clayton

Dalata could experience an "elongated" recovery time due partly to the effect of latest Covid restrictions, according to Davy.

“The net effect is to assume a shallower peak-to-trough impact from Covid-19 and an elongated period of recovery,” said analyst Colin Grant.

In September, Dalata reported a near €71m pre-tax loss for the first half of 2020 and a 60% year-on-year drop in revenue to €81m.

However, the group also raised €94m from a share sale to bolster its balance sheet and fund hotel expansion in London.

Ireland moves to Orange status

People travelling from Ireland to other countries in the EU will face fewer restrictions following an update to the traffic light system. trafficligh

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) has upgraded Ireland from a red-listed country to an orange one along with the Canary Islands.

The decision has been made following improvements to Ireland's 14-day incidence rate and test positivity rate.

Parts of Greece, Norway and Finland are also listed as orange while most of Europe remains red.

DAA Chief Communications Officer, Paul O'Kane says it is vital anyone travelling abroad checks the rules in place at their destination.

Catering worker wins harassment case

A catering chain has been ordered to pay out €3,500 to a former female employee after a manager circulated two images to staff, including one of himself wearing only his boxer shorts.

At the Workplace Relations Commission , Adjudication Officer, Michael McEntee found that the 19-year-old catering worker was sexually harassed concerning her boss circulating the two images.

According to Mr McEntee, the facts alleged that on December 7, 2019, the catering worker’s boss posted on a web group chat a picture of himself wearing only his boxer shorts.

The catering worker alleged that her then boss made suggestive sexual comments regarding the boxer shorts.

Two days later on December 9, the catering worker alleged that her boss also posted to the group chat an image of male genitalia on a flat white coffee cup top.

She stated that she found both images "quite disgusting and most upsetting".

At hearing, the images of the two group web texts were shown to Mr McEntee.

Virtual Expo promotes tourism

Twenty-eight tourism companies from around Ireland are taking part in Tourism Ireland’s first ever North American ‘Ireland Virtual Expo’. IRELAND VIRTUAL EXPO NORTH AMERICA

The ‘Ireland Virtual Expo’ is a two-day B2B tourism event, organised by Tourism Ireland to allow the tourism companies from across Ireland, as well as 12 tour operators based in North America, to connect with more than 2,000 high-end travel advisors based across the United States and Canada.

Tourism Ireland will facilitate, via an online system, a series of one-to-one, pre-scheduled video appointments. The aim is to promote Ireland to these influential North America travel advisors, to position us well for 2021 – for when the time is right to welcome their clients and international visitors once again.