Taoiseach Micheal Martin has given the Irish public promising lockdown news as he issued a Level 5 restrictions update live on RTE.
The Fianna Fail leader said that Ireland will be in a much "different space" by the middle of 2021 with an end date and easing of restrictions possible.
In positive news for a change, he confirmed that there is hope for the country as the Covid vaccine continues to be rolled out.
Speaking on RTE's Prime Time last night, the Taoiseach confirmed that the country had achieved their targets in terms of vaccinations so far - but this was not the time to let the foot off.
He said: "We've basically administered what we have received in. The variant is a problem, and in terms of the variant or the mutation of the virus we have to look differently in terms of how we manage that.
"But I think what we can say to people is in terms of the vaccination roll-out that will happen, and we will get that, in terms of the dynamic changes and so on with the advice.
"We will still do it and get it done for the over 70s.
"It offers hope that towards mid-year certainly, we’ll be in a different space, I think, and in a different landscape."
He applauded everyone in Ireland for how they have responded to Level 5 restrictions adding that the health measures are "worth fighting for".
He continued: "People have responded for a long time now, they have responded well and the numbers are coming down. We need to stick at it.
"Keep the numbers down, get them down to the 5th of March and as we roll out the vaccination. We will keep the economic supports, we will be in a better position - it's worth fighting for now.
"We have vaccines now that we didn't have last year and they do offer us hope for the country and people do need hope to get through this and we will get through it."
