Taoiseach admits reopening nightclubs will involve 'anomalies' 

Asked about the measures nightclubs will have to adopt to open, Micheál Martin said: 'What traditionally happens in a nightclub will happen in a nightclub.' Picture: Pexels

The reopening of nightclubs will involve "anomalies", the Taoiseach has said in announcing the continuation of some Covid measures into next year.

There is still a lack of clarity around whether nightclubs will have to impose table service, or whether people will be able to order drinks from the bar when they reopen on Friday.

Asked about the measures nightclubs will have to adopt to open, Micheál Martin said: "What traditionally happens in a nightclub will happen in a nightclub."

However, he said the industry, which has been closed for almost 19 months, will receive specific guidance.

"I am stressing that there will be anomalies. But the overall point is that we must double down, collectively, as a society, in terms of protecting ourselves, in terms of how we behave in different contexts, in different areas, and that will be challenging in some situations," he said.

This was echoed by Tánaiste Leo Varadkar, who said the "absolute easiest thing" to do was to shut down the country, and the second easiest thing to do was open it up fully. "Everything in between is full of anomalies and full of complications," he said.

"The objective here is to try to open things up and keep things open, but to put in as many practical measures as we can to keep people safe. There are going to be anomalies, there are going to be contradictions, unfortunately, but that's always going to be the case, unless you go for one extreme or the other," said Mr Varadkar.

Vaccine certs and masks

Vaccine certs and masks will remain in use until February of next year and will require the extension of emergency legislation, Mr Martin said after the Cabinet signed off on a lifting of some restrictions.

However, Mr Martin strongly defended the continuation of some measures, saying it is "not correct" to state restrictions were only being retained to protect hospitals from coming under strain.

"The idea that this is about hospitals alone is not correct," he said. "That's not a fair assessment at all, the fact of the matter is cases are rising, hospitalisations are rising. We want to prevent hospitalisations, we want to prevent ICU admissions to protect people in the first instance," said Mr Martin.

The Taoiseach added that health services across the globe had come under pressure and only two countries have fully eased restrictions.