The Irish government has announced a number of new business restrictions for the hospitality industry to attempt to curb the spread of COVID-19.
Restaurants And Food-Serving Pubs
Restaurants and food-serving pubs will be required to close at 3pm on Christmas Eve.
After 3pm on Christmas Eve, all restaurants and pubs will be permitted to open for takeaway and delivery services only.
Cinemas, Galleries And Museums
Cinemas, galleries and museums will also be required to close from Christmas Eve.
Hotels
Hotels will be permitted to open for Christmas, but non-essential bookings will not be permitted after December 26.
From December 27, hotels will be permitted to open for essential, non-tourist and non-social reasons only.
Extra financial supports will reportedly be provided for the affected sectors.
Weddings
Up to 25 people will be permitted to attend a wedding until January 1.
A maximum of six guests will be permitted to attend weddings from January 2.
Inter-County Travel And Household Visits
Non-essential inter-county travel will not be permitted from December 27.
Additionally, household visits from people from up to two other households will be permitted until St. Stephen's Day, and from December 27 visits from people from only one other household will be permitted until December 31 before all household visits are banned from January 1.
Tánaiste Statement
While the government will review these new restrictions on January 12, Tánaiste Leo Varadkar stated that it is likely that they will be in place for more than two months.
Varadkar said, "It will probably be towards the end of February or early March before a critical mass of the population is vaccinated, and I think we need to operate on the basis that these restrictions will be in place until then."
© 2020 Hospitality Ireland – your source for the latest industry news. Article by Dave Simpson. Click subscribe to sign up for the Hospitality Ireland print edition.
