Irish pubs are "ready to open" on Friday evening if given the green light to do so by the Government.
Advice from the National Public Health Emergency Team late on Thursday evening told the leaders that they are happy for restrictions to be lifted - leaving the onus on the Government to stipulate a timeline for when to relax them.
Included in that are many of the guidelines surrounding pubs, including the 8pm curfew, social distancing between tables and ordering at the bar once again.
And pub bosses have now called on the Government to let pubs open fully once more.
Vintners’ Federation of Ireland Chief Executive Padraig Cribben said: "After almost two years of lockdowns and closures our members are ready to fully open from Friday. There's no need to wait any longer, all restrictions should be removed this weekend.
“NPHET has no objection to a full reopening of pubs so we need to go for it now. Northern Ireland is fully reopening over the coming days so it’s important we make the same decision.
“While it will take considerable time for the hospitality sector to fully recover from the past two years, this weekend marks a new beginning for the trade.”
Reacting to the recommendations coming from NPHET, Donall O’Keeffe, Chief Executive of the Licensed Vintners Association (LVA) said:
“The news coming from NPHET has been eagerly awaited by the entire hospitality and late night sectors for a long, long time.
“Hopefully the Government will now move swiftly and there will be no delays to the full reopening and the scrapping of hospitality restrictions.
“Hospitality is ready and waiting to open our doors this weekend. If the Government gives the green light then the recovery of the hospitality and night time sectors could begin as early as Friday night,” he concluded.
