Taoiseach hints at wet pubs reopening and sport spectators increasing within weeks

Taoiseach Micheál Martin has hinted that “wet pubs” could be allowed reopen, and increased numbers of spectotors attend outdoor sporting events, by mid-September.

When asked if the publication of the new Government roadmap on September 14th would effectively mean the reopening of drink-only pubs to customers, and sports fields to spectators, would be pushed back until the end of the month at least, he said that was not a correct analysis.

“(It is) not necessarily (so) in terms of push back until the end of September, he said. That’s not a correct analysis.”

Mr Martin told reporters on Friday that the Government’s new roadmap would reset the roadmap to allow the economy and society to reopen, “protecting lives and livelihoods”

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He said the previous roadmap which expired in August had served its purpose well but the country was now moving to a new phase.

“I think we are looking at a longer-term situation in living with Covid-19 and dealing with lives and livelihoods.”

He said that the key priority of getting a million students back to school for September had been achieved and that the focus would now turn to the health services. He said there were “huge challenges” during the winter season, including the influenza season, and non-Covid medicine and diagnostics.

“I do understand that people are becoming fatigued with Covid 19 and all that it brings . We are anxous to work with people and different sectors of society and economy to enable them to move into a new phase of dealing with it,” he said.

New laws

Responding to the confusion surrounding new laws requiring pubs and restaurants to retain individual details of food consumption, Mr Martin said it was “overstating it” to claim it was a communications calamity.

“The Government has no interest in knowing what people are eating,” he said, saying the regulations had been designed to deal with rogue operators who were serving drink but not food. Like other Ministers, he insisted that it would not place an extra burden on publicans and restaurateurs.

He also said that the regulations would soon become redundant, once so-called ‘wet pubs’ were allowed reopen.

“Communications could have been better (around the regulations),” he admitted but added it had got interpreted. He dismissed the suggestion Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly was a liability to the Government, saying it was not fair to blame one individual as the decision on this issue was a government-wide one.

Asked how the new regulations would deal with pub crawls and excessive drinking, Mr Martin pointed to personal responsibility that applied to everyone in relation to their behaviour.

“We do not want in a microscopic way to regulate people’s behaviour. We want to get a fair situation for all that are operating.”

The Taoiseach was speaking at the headquarters of APC in Cherrywood, a facility where vaccines ae bing developed.

He said that even if vaccines were available by the end of the year, it would take a long time to manufacture them in sufficient quantities globally.

“It will take at least to the end of 2021 before we can see the light at the end of the tunnel. In the interim we have to learn to live with it.”

Asked about the Government decision to nominate Mairéad McGuinness and Andrew McDowell as candidates for Ireland’s EU Commissioner role, Mr Martin said that the discussion in government had always been around two names. He added that it was up to EU Commissioner Ursula Von der Leyen to decide what portfolio will be allotted.