Dublin’s pubs will not be allowed to reopen next week as planned due to rising coronavirus cases in the city.
The move to delay the September 21st reopening for drink-only pubs in the capital is due to be signed off by the Cabinet on Tuesday morning as the Government delivers its new Living with Covid-19 five-level plan.
Tánaiste Leo Varadkar on Monday said the “worrying” increase in coronavirus infections in Dublin would require additional restrictions and a “different response” than in the rest of the country.
A representative body for the pub trade said a further delay in reopening in the city would be “an unmitigated disaster” for the sector, pushing some publicans into default on debts.
Licensed Vintners’ Association chief executive Donall O’Keeffe said it would be “unbelievable” for the reopening of drink-only pubs to be further delayed past September 21st, the fourth proposed reopening date.
He called on the Cabinet to stand by that date.
“NPHET [the National Public Health Emergency Team] should focus on where the infections are,” Mr O’Keeffe said.
“These pubs have not contributed to that worrying trend of rising infections. That has happened in homes, in the community and in other workplaces because the pubs will have been closed for 189 days by September 21st,” he said.
“All hospitality businesses should face the same public health guidelines. There have been 3,500 food pubs open since June 29th without any problems. What is NPHET’s obsession with wet pubs?”
The latest figures show that the incidence of Covid-19 in two areas of Dublin has risen above 100 cases per 100,000 people for the first time since the spring.
A total of 1,068 coronavirus cases were notified in Dublin over the two-week period up to last Friday.
Photo: Niall Carson
