The Vintners’ Federation of Ireland (VFI) has said that there's 'plenty of availability over the following days' for anyone that's interested in booking an outdoor meal or drink.
However, the VFI has also that publicans are already 'reporting strong weekend bookings' for the period of June 11 onwards.
With outdoor dining returning on June 7, Ireland's restaurants and pubs are bound to be busy as they open their doors to the public for the first time since December.
However, for those that might be curious about making a booking, the VFI has said that while demand is high, there are still empty reservations available.
In a statement released to the Irish Mirror, Brian Foley, Communications & Public Affairs Manager of the Vintners’ Federation of Ireland, gave an insight into the general level of bookings in Irish pubs ahead of the June 7 reopening.
"There is huge anticipation for next Monday when pubs can reopen for outdoor trading. It’s a bank holiday and we’re hearing about huge demand and fully booked pubs across the country. There’s plenty of availability over the following days until Friday when publicans are reporting strong weekend bookings," said Mr Foley.
He adds: "We expect 50% of pubs will open next week, which equates to approximately 3,500 venues. The remaining pubs don’t have outdoor space to reopen so will have to wait until July 5 for the resumption of indoor trading."
Earlier this week, the Tànaiste explained why the planned reopening of outdoor service didn't go ahead sooner.
At present, pubs and restaurants are set to open their doors on June 7 but given the recent shortage of public bathrooms in Dublin and the increase in litter, the Fine Gael leader was asked why premises couldn't open sooner to help alleviate this problem?
"The decision is Monday and that's what's going to happen. That's the Cabinet decision on that. We did toy with that possibility but we're not going to change it now. It does appear that the weather is not going to be so nice this weekend, unfortunately, but that's probably a good thing in terms of people congregating outside," said Varadkar.
Earlier this week, Dublin City Council has confirmed that there will be 150 toilets installed in the city this weekend as well as 80 barrel bins in anticipation of an increase in footfall on the Bank Holiday weekend.
