Delaying July 5 hospitality reopening 'doesn't make sense', say Fine Gael TDs

Criticism of any potential delay to indoor service in bars and restaurants because of the Delta variant

Fine Gael TDs have criticised any delay to reopening hospitality on July 5. Picture: Leah Farrell/RollingNews.ie

Fine Gael TDs have criticised any potential delay to reopening hospitality on July 5.

The party's parliamentary party on Wednesday heard from a number of members who argued that delaying indoor service in bars and restaurants because of the spread of the Delta variant of Covid-19 did not make sense.

Sources said that a message was read out from a hospitality business whose owner said they would reopen regardless of the Government's announcement next week. 

'Yo-yo' lockdowns

Junior minister Patrick O'Donovan warned the meeting that "yo-yo" lockdowns could not be used indefinitely, while Carlow-Kilkenny TD John Paul Phelan said that variants of Covid-19 may be around "for years".

A number of TDs and senators raised similar concerns that there was a need to learn to live alongside Covid.

Senator Emer Currie is understood to have raised the problems that delaying reopening would cause for couples due to be married after July 5. They will have planned to have 50 guests, she told the meeting.

Tánaiste Leo Varadkar said there was increased concern regarding the Delta variant, but said that nothing had been decided on the next phase of reopening, and it would likely be next week before any announcement can be made.

While acknowledging that case numbers here were stable, hospital numbers were flat, and the vaccine administration was on track, he said the Delta variant "is a big concern" and the figures from the UK are "worrying".

On the National Maternity Hospital, Mr Varadkar said the State "needs to own the hospital, the land and the building we are paying to build". He added that "all legal services offered in this country should be provided there".

The meeting was also updated on the upcoming Dublin Bay South by-election. Director of elections Simon Harris told the meeting it would be "a penalty shootout" between Fine Gael's James Geoghegan and Sinn Féin's Lynn Boylan for the seat next month.

Meanwhile, Mr Varadkar told the meeting that those staging their own events within guidelines are free to use antigen testing if they wish, but that it would not be appropriate for the HSE to carry out this testing. It comes as musicians and artists have called for the Government to publish a plan to reopen the live entertainment industry.

Protest outside the Dáil

Up to 100 demonstrators took part in a protest outside the Dáil, which is sitting in the Convention Centre in Dublin, to demand a commitment from the Government to reopen the sector.

Industry professionals say they have been out of a job for more than a year and want clarity on a plan that will see the return of live music.

Live music has been banned from all venues, despite the reopening of the outdoor hospitality sector and changes in the number of guests allowed to attend weddings.

Events singer Jenny O'Donovan said guidance to allow live music should be published.

Ms O'Donovan, who sings at wedding ceremonies, drinks receptions, and funerals, has had to get a job as a carer.

"Singing was my full-time gig and I wasn't getting the full PUP payment so I had to get a carer job, which I am very grateful for, but it's not something I want to wake up every day and want to do," she told the PA news agency.

"I really want to get back to singing, it's good for the soul."