Leading Irish supermarkets – including Aldi, Lidl and Tesco – are urging the public not to shop in groups where possible, but are not following their UK counterparts into a ban on the practice.
In England, shoppers have been warned by some supermarkets that they face being turned away under new plans to limit numbers in stores.
Families and couples have been urged to avoid shopping together, with several retailers telling customers they should come alone where possible.
Here, though, where Level Five restrictions have now been in place for two weeks, supermarkets are taking a more common-sense approach to the issue of people shopping in groups.
In Tesco, for example, shoppers are being encouraged to keep to one person per trolley "where possible," a spokesperson for the supermarket told the Irish Mirror.
But the supermarket says it recognises that "this is not always possible", and is adopting a "common-sense approach" in cases where customers need to come to stores with family members or other people in their care.
And Lidl Ireland says it does "not have any policies in place to prevent families shopping together, as long as they are respecting the above measures and maintaining social distance."
A Lidl spokesperson said the supermarket has put a slew of measures – including perspex till guards, face masks and queue management systems – in place to protect customers' safety.
"We recognise that for a variety of reasons, not everyone is in a position to shop alone," the supermarket told the Irish Mirror.
Aldi has a similar policy in place across its stores, with customers being asked to "try and reduce the number of family members they bring with them into our stores".
"We fully appreciate that this is not possible for all of our customers but we would encourage it, wherever possible," the supermarket says.
Children are not banned in Aldi under its Covid-19 guidelines.
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