Fully vaccinated Irish people can holiday in Med hotspots by July

It is clear that the main destinations of choice such as Portugal, Spain, France and Italy are not expected to require Irish tourists to isolate.

Fully vaccinated people will be able to travel to Mediterranean hotspots by the end of July without the need to quarantine, under Government plans to be announced later this week.

Cabinet sources have told the Irish Examiner that under the EU digital cert, travel within the EU 27 bloc of countries is envisaged and the need to quarantine, based on vaccination rates, will be set aside.

It is clear that the main destinations of choice such as Portugal, Spain, France and Italy are not expected to require Irish tourists to isolate, which is a significant development for potential holidaymakers.

It is believed the plan to be announced on Friday will be focused on three main areas:

• The restoration of international travel;
• The return of indoor dining and hospitality and;
• The limited return of sports and cultural events by the end of June.

All EU countries will formally adopt the digital cert on June 26 and will have a six-week period within which to implement it. Government sources have said Ireland will seek to “be an early adopter” of the cert scheme.

“It is entirely possible to see people travelling in July and it is clear from what we know that the Med countries, who want to rescue their tourism seasons, will set aside the need to quarantine,” one minister said.

It has also been confirmed that Ireland’s mandatory hotel quarantine system is likely to be altered significantly, which will also see the end to the need for EU travellers to isolate for 14 days.

Pressure mounting

Pressure is mounting on the Government to re-open the aviation sector with a large-scale protest from airlines pilots outside Leinster House yesterday. They say their income has been decimated.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin said the Cabinet will approve a comprehensive plan to allow airlines to reboot the sector to make sure they can have a sustainable future.

He expressed his unhappiness at the decision of Aer Lingus to close its staff base at Shannon Airport, but conceded the airline is “burning a lot of cash”.

On the wider re-opening, Mr Martin caused some surprise by suggesting indoor dining might not return as expected on July 1.

We’ll see what happens during July. If you look, what we’ve been doing from April and May, everything wasn’t done the first week of those particular months when it began to reopen. Full retail was the 17th, so it’s a graduated approach we will be adopting.

Mr Martin said the Government will approach the reopening with a mindset of "steady as we go", adding that people need to "hold it" when calling for sectors to reopen.

Mass gathering events

Meanwhile, the Tourism Minister wants test mass gathering events in sports and live music held by the end of next month.
Catherine Martin said she will bring a list of live events to the National Public Health Emergency Team on Thursday for advice on how pilots could be run safely. She said that these will range from live music, to comedy, to theatre and sport.
The numbers allowed at these events will vary, she said, but it could be as high as 5,000.
Ms Martin said sports events across the sector will be trialled and she wants to see this done in June, with antigen testing "given consideration" as a means to see people back in music venues or stadiums.
She said she wants to see Ireland adopt the EU green certificate "as soon as possible" and wants to see it implemented within a fortnight of going live at the start of July. Ms Martin said domestic tourism "cannot replace" the business brought by foreign visitors.

Health Minister Stephen Donnelly has said face masks may have to be worn until autumn or early winter in high-risk environments or if there is a local Covid-19 outbreak.

Speaking in the Seanad during a debate to extend emergency public health powers until November 9, Mr Donnelly said he agreed the measures are draconian but are necessary.