Pub owners around the country are facing an uncertain future following the government decision to delay the reopening of pubs from Monday until at least August 10th.
Tánaiste Leo Varadkar faced heated questioning in the Dáil on the move to delay Phase 4 of the country’s reopening from the Covid-19 lockdown.
The decision came as the State has seen an increase in the number of those infected with the virus and a rising reproductive rate - a key metric used to track the rate of infection - indicating spread within the community.
Varadkar, who is also Minister for Enterprise, warned that pubs, nightclubs and other venues will open “no sooner than August 10th. We are not saying they will open on August 10th”.
The Tánaiste stressed the reopening would depend on the number of cases and “on how the virus behaves,” acknowledging it was a “hammerblow” to publicans and that he too had been looking forward to “freedom pints” next week.
Independent TD Michael Healy Rae, whose brother owns a pub, said the decision was a “crazy” one that had caused consternation for publicans:
“I’ve got many calls, late into last night and very early this morning, people saying, ‘well how sure are we now that they’re actually going to allow us, because they’ve broken their word to us already.’”
You raised their hopes, which was a horrible thing to do. And the message that has gone out now around the world is, you can come in from a hotspot, but you can’t have a hot drop.
He said that pubs in rural areas should be allowed reopen for local people: “You must remember there’s an awful difference between Dame Lane and Ballinskelligs, or between Dame Lane and Portmagee.”
Pub owners
One Dublin pub owner has compared the decision to delay reopening to Santa coming in and taking all the toys away.
Gerry McGeough from the Cherrytree Pub in Walkinstown in Dublin says the delay to reopening came as a shock: “I do understand why it was made. It’s just difficult when we were in there yesterday, we were cleaning ice machines, we had literally turned on our compressors, all our staff were in.”
“We were going through COVID drills, we were putting stickers on the floor, and in right in the middle of putting the stickers on the floor, at a quarter past six the news came, and it just felt... like Santa came in and took all our toys away.”
The uncertainty has caused some pub owners to turn away deliveries, as they are unsure about their businesses reopening on August 10th.
Owner of Peter's Pub in Dublin Enda Keogh described the situation as “desperate.”
“I suspected by the word in this morning, early this morning, that there was no guarantee we’d be open on the 10th. I think we’ll have to work hard. I had five or six deliveries coming in this morning, and I could have taken them in, but I felt there was a doubt about the 10th of August and that’s why I refused the deliveries this morning.”
The government will review the situation in three weeks time to take account of the latest medical evidence.
