Irish pubs, bars and restaurants will not be reopening until at least mid-summer, the Taoiseach has said.
Speaking on RTÉ's Raidió na Gaeltachta, Micheal Martin confirmed that the hospitaility sector cannot currently be considered for reopening due to the high number of coronavirus cases and concerns over variants, the Irish Mirror has reported.
The Taoiseach said the reopening of pubs and restaurants will be not be considered until at least mid-summer.
The Fianna Fail leader 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.
“There won’t be much of a change ( after this phase ) because the numbers are still too high ... what we intend is to reopen schools gradually ... it will be slow, we’ll be cautious, because we have to monitor the effect on the virus.
"The biggest challenge we face is new variants as they could impact the vaccines. It’s sensible to open slowly, as the vaccines are coming.”
It comes just days after the Irish Mirror revealed in an exclusive interview with the Taoiseach that "severe restrictions" will last right up to the end of April.
