Ireland saw an encouraging drop in Covid-19 cases on Monday, with just 252 new infections announced.
In further welcoming news, there were no deaths in the past 24 hours associated with the virus.
The figures were announced during a briefing by the National Public Health Emergency Team.
They come as Ireland nears the end of Level Five restrictions with an announcement expected to be made in the coming weeks.
People across the country are waiting patiently to see what decision will be taken by government regarding lifting restrictions for the Christmas season.
Publicans were dealt a blow today after it was revealed that wet pubs will stay closed for the festive season.
Bars that do not serve food have been deemed too dangerous to reopen, with one source telling the Irish Mirror this afternoon: “Sadly, not a hope for wet pubs.”
However, there is some hope for the hospitality industry, as restaurants will reopen next week if daily Covid cases get below 300.
Meanwhile Taoiseach Micheal Martin appeared to issue a blow to the number of people allowed for household visits over Christmas.
With the second lockdown set to end on December 1, the Taoiseach said that the Government must "bear in mind" how a ban on visits to homes during Level Three helped to halt the spread of the disease.
Indicating that there may be tough rules to come on how many households should mix over Christmas, he said: “What has emerged is the move on the restriction of households after being introduced during Level Three seems to have had an impact so we have to bear that in mind as we move through December.
“Level Three and the restriction on households that we brought in and then Level Five did work and has worked.
“There has been a narrative around this that I don’t think is helpful or accurate, it has worked, we brought the numbers well down.”
