Coronavirus: Pubs left to decide for themselves if they stay open

It is up to pubs to decide themselves if they will close or limit the numbers they allow into their premises as part of efforts to deal with coronavirus.

The Government has called for gatherings of more than 100 people indoors and 500 people outdoors to be cancelled.

Minister for Health Simon Harris said "individual premises and establishments around the country will have to decide how to respond to that."

He stressed “the clear medical guidance we’ve been given as a Government is that we should not find ourselves in social gatherings in an indoor capacity where there are more than 100 people”.

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Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan acknowledged the challenges for pubs and restaurants.

He said that “certain restaurants already anecdotally have begun to put in place measures to provide social distancing while still providing a customer experience for people”.

Dr Holohan said they had a responsibility to help businesses to continue to operate but at the same time ensuring “an environment that does not contribute to risks and then the transmission of this particular virus”.

Tánaiste Simon Coveney agreed it was for pubs to decide for themselves whether to remain open.

He said “these are very clear guidelines in terms of numbers, what’s appropriate and what’s not.

“Business owners and operators will have to accommodate these asks in terms of how they run their businesses.”

Mr Coveney added that “that’s going to be difficult and we recognise that.”

He said: “That’s why we want obviously as we move through this period and get out the other side - to get back to a much more normal society.”

But he stressed that “these measures are necessary and we wouldn’t be introducing them unless they were”.

Earlier the Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said restaurants, cafes and other businesses can stay open but should look at ways that they can implement the public health advice on social distancing.

The Licensed Vintners Association (LVA), the representative body for Dublin publicans, called for clarity for how pubs should address the coronavirus situation.

“Following on from the Taoiseach’s statement, there is a lot of confusion amongst publicans across Dublin as to what action they now need to take,” said LVA chief executive Donall O’Keeffe. “For that reason we are calling on the Government and the Expert Advisory Group to provide specific guidance for how pubs should respond to the coronavirus situation.

“By their very nature pubs are social hubs where people deliberately congregate close to one another. Implementing a one metre gap between tables for example might be one step that we could take, but that won’t stop people from grouping together or congregating in other parts of the pub, for example at the bar.

“Our members are committed to playing their part in acting in the best interests of our staff and customers. Public health is our sole and over-riding priority. But publicans are not experts in public health and there is a severe lack of clarity as to how we should now respond. This is a time for listening to the experts and to be guided by the experts. That is why we believe it is imperative that the Expert Advisory Group and the Government provide pub specific guidance on these issues as a matter of real urgency,” he added.