A top publican joked that he'd "never seen so many selfies with pints of Guinness" as he shared his joy at welcoming customers back.
Alan Campbell said that it "just great" to have punters back in his bar, adding that he thinks it had created a "sense of positivity and goodwill" around Dublin city centre.
After another weekend of violence that saw missiles being thrown at Gardai and sections of the capital being cordoned off, Mr Campbell believes that the reopening of the hospitality sector will rejuvenate the city.
"It's great, there's a great buzz around the city this morning. It was great watching all the people sitting down for food and drinks," he said.
"I just went up to the lads in Grogans to wish them luck there and they're flying up there too. South William Street is doing very good.
"We have a great crowd outside as well, they've been there since we started. It's early days but great to see."
While takeaway pints have been popular with some, pub-goers have been unable to get a proper pint since Christmas Eve.
Speaking about the patrons who visited The Bankers Bar early this morning, Mr Campbell said that spirits were high.
"Customers were taking photographs with their pints. I've never seen so many selfies being taken with a pint of Guinness!
"A couple were telling me how much they miss sitting down to have a pint from a real glass. They were delighted.
"People are excited that some sort of normality is coming back and I think one of the biggest things to make you feel 'normal' is being able to go out and have a bite to eat and a pint, without being told you can't do that or that it has to be in a plastic glass. I think today's changes will bring us another step closer to normality," he said.
While the return of outdoor service is a welcome development for the restaurant and pub sector, it's merely a small step towards the bigger goal of indoor dining on July 5.
With restrictions on cinemas, outdoor gatherings, weddings and more being lifted, there's a growing sense that the outdoor summer is starting to take shape.
Aside from these lockdown restrictions being removed, Ireland's vaccine programme has also reached another milestone over the bank holiday weekend with three million Covid-19 vaccine doses now administered.
This comes as the number of people in intensive care with Covid-19 fell to 26 on Monday.
Speaking with the Irish Mirror, Mr Campbell believes that today's reopening of pubs is very different to previously, mainly because of the vaccine's impact.
"You can see it even in the customers that are outside, there's no nervousness about them," he explained.
"People are having their drinks outside, coming in and putting on their masks to use the toilet. People are used to the rules, they know what they have to do, there's no walking on eggshells anymore.
"I think this reopening is going to be a lot easier than last time. I think last time, we were still educating a lot of people with the rules. This time, people actually know the rules because they're so used to them and with the shops being open a little bit earlier than us, there's definitely a sense that people know what they have to do. It's going to make things a lot easier on me and my staff."
Despite this renewed sense of optimism and positivity, this weekend saw more tense scenes in Dublin as Gardai arrested 14 people.
Large numbers of officers were also required to police several gatherings in Dublin's city centre for the third night in a row.
Gardai said a "high visibility policing operation" had been put in place in the capital as officers engaged with large crowds in St Stephen’s Green, Temple Bar and South William Street.
The authorities also had to contend with "significant numbers of groups of youths" who were "loitering" around the city.
Gardai said that these groups were "not involved in outdoor dining/socialising".
In total, 14 people were arrested for public order offences in the city centre, including three juveniles who were released and referred for Juvenile Diversion Programme.
Four people received an Adult Caution, and seven people were charged with Court proceedings to follow.
Having operated The Bankers Bar on Trinity Street for almost 30 years, Mr Campbell said that this weekend in Dublin was unique.
"I've never seen anything like it in my life," he said.
"Unfortunately, we do have to talk about the events that are going on at nighttime.
"I'm just hoping that doesn't filter into the positive atmosphere we've got now. It's an absolutely horrible situation and we just hope that we can try and get our city back.
"It's been very bad over the last few weeks, especially Friday and Saturday night. I'm here a long time and I've never seen anything like it in my life."
Speaking on RTE, the President of the Garda Representative Association (GRA) said that the vast majority of people in Dublin over the weekend complied with Covid-19 restrictions and it was only "a minority grouping that seemed hell-bent on just creating havoc."
GRA President Frank Thornton said there were only "a small number of occasions" when gardaí were met with hostility, while the Minister for Justice, Heather Humphreys, said the scenes in Dublin over the weekend were caused by a "small number of people causing a lot of trouble".
Speaking with the Irish Mirror, Mr Campbell said that the atmosphere in town was friendly, happy and pleasant until 6pm - then a very different mood crept in.
"It actually happened about 6pm last night. A lot of places just closed up around 6pm last night in this area because you could see what was happening.
"It was sort of a powder keg waiting to go off and it did around the South William Street area.
"Up until 7 or half seven, there was a great atmosphere of people enjoying the sunshine.
"People were having a few coffees, takeaway pints - they were doing no harm. Then all of a sudden, this bad element just spread. The mood of the city changed, just like a light switch."
Despite these unsavoury scenes, Mr Campbell is confident that the reopening of outdoor services will alleviate some of the pressures on the Gardai, solely because people will have to abide by the rules in place at various premises.
"Anyone who's dining outside a pub, restaurant or hotel, they're the ones that are going to be responsible because they're in a regulated environment now.
"The publican, hotelier, or restaurateur will make sure that they're being responsible in their area. It will have a massive impact on the city.
"People are now in regulated places and that's where they want to be and that's where they need to be," he said.
