RTE viewers were left stunned after a brazen man admitted to breaking Covid rules so he could drink in a pub during lockdown.
During a segment on RTE's Claire Byrne Live discussing the controversy around restrictions on pubs and bars, Paul Lannigan told a story of how he paid a trip to a pub which was meant to be closed due to lockdown
Speaking on the show he said: "I was in the west of Ireland shooting a video and I brought my sons with me to help me out.
"The landlord of the apartment that I was renting said 'Listen if you want a pint later on there's a pub nearby just knock on the door at around 7.30pm and we'll let you in.
"So, we did and had a couple of pints.
"There was a few other people probably about a dozen. Mostly elderly guys and I said it to the barman 'Are you not worried that you're going to get caught doing this.
"And he said 'I am. But I'm more worried about these guys [the elderly men]. These are lonely old bachelors with nobody to talk to they live in a very remote part of the country'."
Paul added that he was touched by the barman's care for the older customers and when asked if he regretted it he replied "Not for a second".
Naturally viewers were shocked at the man's admission that he had flouted Covid-19 restrictions and admitted to it on live television.
Taking to social media one viewer said: "Straight in at #1, the most disliked man in Ireland."
Another said: "You’ll not be getting a Christmas drink in your local this year buddy"
A third person said in a fiery post: "I'd respect him more if he was honest. He attended at that bar and drank at that bar for himself, and himself only. Taking the moral high ground, pontificating, and acting as if he is levitating on the cross above us all... it is simply bulls*** and it is patronising."
