Northern Ireland people who take a drink are waiting for Stormont to give local offies the green light to open.
Westminster yesterday added premises selling booze to the list of ‘essential businesses’, but the Office of the First and Deputy First Minister told Belfast Live the rules here are “under review”.
It is hoped local off licences will get the go-ahead to open their doors as soon as tomorrow
The news would be welcome says Colin Neill from the umbrella group Hospitality Ulster. Many offies have been closed since the Prime Minister ordered non-essential shops to close their doors - with many frantically setting up delivery services.
Reacting to the news, Mr Neill called for Stormont to add offies to the essential list.
He said: “This really is a fast moving situation and the Government is acting, and then refining what it is doing. Off licences that are stand alone, though, have a role to play in the current situation. If people are to stay at home, there is a social element to that with people having a glass of wine or a bottle of beer to keep morale up.
“If they close the off licences it’ll drive the footfall to the supermarkets, but that will have an affect on social distancing if there’s more people in them. Obviously, Stormont have to respond to what’s happened at Westminster. We’ve been having conversations and I’m hopeful we will see a positive response to this sooner rather than later.”
The addition of off-licences to the list of essential businesses in Britain was announced on Wednesday morning. It came amid anecdotal evidemce of off licence sections in some supermarkets running low on stock.
Off-licences in Britain will join a list of businesses considered essential to keep the nation running, including supermarkets, pharmacies, banks and petrol stations.
