The Licensed Vintners Association (LVA) has said that Irish pubs would make every effort to provide later trading this coming weekend (Saturday January 22 and Sunday January 23) if the government permitted them to do so.
Details
In a statement published on its website, the LVA said that with indications that an announcement on the extension of trading hours is imminent, vintners in Dublin want a midnight closing time to be reinstated as soon as possible, and believe that the country's pub sector can adapt at short notice.
LVA Chief Executive Statements
The statement published on the LVA's website included a statement from LVA chief executive Donall O'Keeffe, in which he said, "Various public health experts and senior representatives of the government are indicating that the country has entered a new stage of the pandemic, so we are hopeful there will be good news for the reopening of hospitality in the coming days. We would like to see the government moving swiftly and allowing for the recovery of hospitality to begin as soon as possible.
"In light of the more positive outlook we would certainly support the return to opening until midnight from as early as this weekend. We know that is what pubs throughout the country would like to see and they would make every effort to be ready if they were given the green light by government. Certainly the industry has had to shut down at very short notice on several occasions during the pandemic, so many would like the opportunity to adjust to good news in just as short a timeframe."
O'Keeffe added in the statement published on the LVA's website, "We think it is very important that the government now begins earnest engagement with the whole hospitality sector around a long-term plan to keep our sector fully open, avoiding the threat of future lockdowns. Given the impact the extended closures have had on the public coffers - both in terms of the cost of pandemic support payments and loss of tax revenue - and the devastating impact on the industry itself, surely there is a responsibility to look at how we can keep hospitality businesses fully open long-term? Now would seem the opportune time to really get to grips with this issue, to see what steps are needed to improve ventilation and to future proof our sector as best as possible against further restrictions and lockdowns."
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