A TD has hit out at some publicans in Limerick who are refusing to close their premises despite public health advice.
A small number of pubs in the county have gone against requests to close until March 29th in order to curtail the spread of COVID-19.
Niall Collins, a Fianna Fáil TD for Limerick, said the behaviour of these publicans and customers is a "blatant defiance".
"The local community are very angry... [this] is really putting people's lives at risk", he said.
Niall Collins, FF
"I would call on the publicans and people who are frequenting these pubs to show some respect and to cease doing this".
The TD also took to Twitter earlier today to voice his concerns.
As reported in today’s @Limerick_Leader some pubs in my constituency are still operating in defiance of best public health advice. This is an attack on our local community, An Garda Siochana can’t act without powers and I say to these people GET REAL and respect people’s lives.
— Niall Collins (@NiallCollinsTD) March 19, 2020
In all, there are a total of 366 cases of COVID-19 in the Republic of Ireland.
The Department of Health has also released figures by county, which has shown at least one case of COVID-19 in every single South-East county.
Waterford has seven, while Wexford, Carlow, Tipp and Kilkenny all have less than five cases each.
