Elderly and ill people will be asked to stay home for several weeks as part of a "cocooning" measure against coronavirus.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar made the announcement as part of a state of the nation broadcast on RTE on Tuesday evening.
He also warned that this is only the “calm before the storm” in the coronavirus emergency.
He was speaking live across broadcast channels as the country faced the first ever St Patrick’s Day in an emergency lockdown.
In his solemn speech the Taoiseach warned that the surge is yet to come, with the leader’s latest prediction that the crisis will continue well into the summer, and more than the 15,000 infections already predicted will emerge.
Mr Varadkar gave his historic address on Tuesday night as the numbers contracting coronavirus soared again last night, with 69 new cases identified, and the total for the island of Ireland now hitting 292 in the Republic of Ireland and 354 on the island overall.
Mr Varadkar prepared people last night for the drastic measure of ordering the old and vulnerable that they will have to stay at home for “several weeks.”
He called this strategy “cocooning.”
Mr Varadkar said: “At a certain point we will advise the elderly and people who are vulnerable to stay at home for several weeks.”
The Taoiseach held an emergency meeting of the Cabinet via tele-conference last night.
And he also held conference calls with fellow EU leaders as the European Council met incorporeally too.
