Uncertainty lingers for pubs without a clear Covid-19 ‘endgame’

Maresa Fagan says the country's vintners are crying out for direction as they face their sixth month of closure with no guarantee that they will open before Christmas.

The Norseman Pub in Temple Bar, Dublin would normally be full of patrons drinking inside and outside. Picture: Collins

The uncertainty facing 3,500 pubs and their estimated 25,000 staff could linger for months, and possibly years, in the absence of a Covid-19 vaccine and a clear Government strategy to move beyond the emergency response to an “endgame”.

In the wake of the Government’s announcement on Tuesday that non-food pubs, hotel bars, and casinos will not open for another three weeks, thousands of publicans, many in rural areas, are angry, frustrated, and crying out for direction and additional financial support.