One publican has said that the sale of takeaway pints is essential for businesses to stay afloat.
Several lockdown restrictions were eased on Monday with licensed premises allowed sell alcohol to people outdoors as long as drinks were consumed 100 metres away.
Many pubs nationwide had lawfully been selling takeaway pints despite an unofficial ban from January.
Thio Chakarov, General Manager of the Dalkey Duck pub in Dublin, said the business is down on profits so significantly in the past 12 months that it is selling the drinks outside just to survive.
The bar only began selling takeaway pints last Friday after the business couldn't wait any longer not to resume some sort of trading.
Although a legal loophole meant that licensed premises selling alcohol outside was not technically prohibited, the bar wanted to wait until Covid-19 case numbers declined.
"We didn't want to bring crowds in front for takeaway pints and that's why we took the decision to not do them," Mr Chakarov said.
"We started to think a month ago to do them but I said to the owner it's a better idea to start doing them after Easter because if I knew around Easter if I start doing them it's going to be really busy, and I really didn't want that, I didn't want all that hassle."
However, during a walk through Dublin city centre last week, Mr Chakarov counted more than 20 pubs selling drinks and realised he had waited "far too long" to do the same.
The pub has been careful to ensure their takeaway drinks operation adheres to all public health guidelines.
One of the staff is tasked with making sure that any crowds which gather are controlled and maintaining social distancing.
Additionally, staff clean up the area around the premises in the evenings to remove any rubbish left by drinkers.
While the Dalkey Duck plans to sell the takeaway drinks every night, they have a strict closing time of 8.30pm to avoid any drunken scenes.
Most people are coming for the pints not to have a big night out, Mr Chakarov added, but rather to socialise with others after more than 100 days of lockdown.
"I can see the people at the moment, they're not coming for the pints, they're coming to socialise," he added.
"It's something new for them to go out a have a plastic cup of Guinness, for example, and for them to have a nice chat for an hour, an hour which is completely different from their routine at the moment."
The pub's careful efforts have paid off, with Gardai even commenting on the "really good job" they have done during a visit to ensure they were complying with the regulations at the weekend.
"It is just weird times at the moment, we have to think a little bit outside of the box," Mr Chakarov said.
"I know it's not my responsibility to look after grown people to tell them, 'Please don't gather in big groups', but for us, we took the decision that it's better to go ahead like that."
Mr Chakarov explained that there is no profit on the takeaway pints compared to the pub's business in the past, but at least the income can be used to pay utility bills and some of the staff who have returned to work.
Five staff, including himself, are back to work out of a total of 22.
The other employees, mostly young workers, have been forced to avail of the government's Covid-19 supports for months, and while Mr Chakarov is eager to have them back, offering them 10 to 15 hours a week would not make financial sense.
He is also concerned that when hospitality does reopen, many staff will not return to work in the pub as they have been forced to find jobs elsewhere during the closures, often in supermarkets.
The pandemic and closure of pubs and restaurants for many months in the past year have had a "massive" impact on the Dalkey Duck, Mr Chakarov said.
"I would say that our takings are 80-85% down," he stated.
"With the 10-15% we're doing at the moment, we're just surviving."
He believes that it will be July before pubs can fully resume trading.
He anticipates that the Government will propose at the end of May that gastropubs and restaurants can reopen with limited numbers seated outside and with strict regulations.
"My thoughts are that we're going to be back to normal-ish in July, but with a lot of restrictions," Mr Chakarov said.
