With lockdown measures set to extend until April 5, it's looking extremely likely that they'll be extended further.
The government has consistently said that any potential reopening of the country will be done in a cautious and safe manner with factors such as the rate of cases, Ireland's R-number, the vaccine programme, new variants, and the status/security of Ireland's healthcare system all being factored in.
However, with government ministers and members of Nphet stating that the current restrictions will continue for longer, here's what has been said on the issue over the past few days and beyond.
Dr Ronan Glynn on the possibility of extensions lasting until June
At Thursday's Nphet press conference, the Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr Ronan Glynn suggested that people should expect to be working from home full-time for the next three or four months.
“The plan is to proceed very cautiously on the basis of the data in front of us for as long as it takes. I am hopeful that as we move into June, and those who have been most vulnerable to the severest effects of Covid-19 and millions of doses of vaccines are rolled out to the population, we will be in a much brighter place.”
Dr Glynn was also pessimistic about the potential of any foreign travel before the end of June.
However, on Friday, Dr Glynn clarified some of his remarks - mainly those where he asked the public to do more to prevent the need for an extension of lockdown measures - and apologised for the somewhat pessimistic tone.
"I specifically said last night that I didn't want to speak about restrictions because I knew it would be a headline today and that headline is very demoralising for people who are trying to do the right thing. So, I'll ask all parts of society to stick with the key messages over the coming weeks," said Dr Glynn last night.
The Taoiseach on extending lockdown
Speaking in Cork today, the Taoiseach said: "In advance of the fifth of April, Government will announce the next phase in terms of what will happen during April. I've been very clear and consistent about that, so I'm not going to speculate right now in terms of any specific aspects of that.
"What I said in my last address to the people was we would look at the 5km limit obviously, we would look at construction, we would look at outdoor activity and sporting activity."
During a previous address, the Fianna Fàil leader provided an indication about what lockdown restrictions could be eased after April 5 - the construction industry, an easing of the 5km travel restrictions, and more leniency for outdoor gatherings.
The Taoiseach said at the time: "With a week to go to the fifth of April we will announce what we're planning to do in April and we have already said that we're going to look at construction, outdoor activity and quality of life issues for people."
Sadly, for the hospitality and pub sector, a reopening date doesn't appear to be on the immediate agenda.
Speaking on RTÉ's Raidió na Gaeltachta a few weeks ago, Martin said: “We don’t foresee that ( reopening pubs etc ) before the middle of the summer ... what the public health authorities are saying is that we stick with this until end of April, then we reflect on the situation and make decisions about the months ahead."
What the Tànaiste has said
Earlier this week, in an interview with Pat Kenny on Newstalk, the Tànaiste said: "I would really ask people to hold off for another few weeks, I know how difficult it is and everyone's got cabin fever, everyone's going stir crazy, everyone just really wants this to end.
"But we're so close now to the finish because we have the vaccine programme, with 630,000 vaccines already given.
"We just need to hang on for a few more weeks until we vaccinate those who are most at risk and we get to the summer period."
Speaking previously with Dublin's Q102, Varadkar gave an indication about what's required for lockdown measures to potentially ease.
"The date for a decision taking effect would be April 5, so in the run-up to April 5 we'll look at four things: How the vaccine programme is going, are there variants we need to be concerned about, is the pressure on the hospitals being relieved, and are cases still stable or falling.
"And if they are, from April 5 we would be able to ease restrictions.
"The kind of things we're considering easing at that point would be the 5k rule, it would be allowing construction to go back, and it would be allowing more outdoor activities. Because outdoor activities are always safer than indoor."
Professor Luke O'Neill is optimistic
During a recent interview, Professor Luke O Neill was asked by Brendan O'Connor on RTE Radio One if he could provide an opinion regarding the possibility that Irish people would be back in beer gardens by June.
He said: "Once we vaccinate the top four priority groups, you can predict a 90% decrease in the death rate, a decrease in hospitalisations, and very importantly, a decrease in severe illness."
He added that some degree of ‘relaxation’ is inevitable by May or June.
Professor O’Neill added: ‘I can’t see us being stuck in the mud for months and months when those numbers are going in the right direction so dramatically.’
.jpg?w=600)
