Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said he is “extremely concerned and very annoyed” following reports of people gathering in large crowds on the streets of Dublin and Cork over the weekend.
Speaking on The Neil Prendeville Show on Cork's RedFM today, Mr Martin said the selling of takeaway pints would be reviewed as a result of the gatherings that were putting Ireland’s Covid-19 progress in “jeopardy”.
It comes as a Dublin publican aired his frustration after video footage emerged of a large crowd drinking outside his shuttered premises in an apparent breach of Covid-19 restrictions on Saturday.
“We’re going to look at that very seriously,” Mr Martin said of a ban on pubs selling takeaway pints and drinks.
Wide-scale sort of congregation of people on streets, it just facilitates the spreading of the virus
“Wide-scale sort of congregation of people on streets, it just facilitates the spreading of the virus.
“We’re going to have to review, I think in particular those takeaway points and alcohol phenomenon, and we’re going to review that and see what we can do.”
Mr Martin said he would consult with other Government colleagues over the next two days on this change of regulations, and would be seeking reports from An Garda Síochána and speaking to the Minister for Justice.
Jeopardy
“This was never the intention, to have large crowds gathering outside of pubs or particularly locations where takeaways were available,” he said.
The Taoiseach said the “country had been doing well and in fairness... the vast majority of people were adhering and are adhering to the guidelines”.
“I think we all have to work to get the incidence of the virus down... it’s been working well in terms of the numbers coming down in Ireland, we’re probably the best in Europe in terms of downward trajectory over the last number of weeks,” he said.
But what’s happened in the last week I think could put that at risk and could put that in jeopardy
“But what’s happened in the last week I think could put that at risk and could put that in jeopardy, and that puts frontline workers in our hospitals under pressure, it puts ICU beds ultimately under pressure.”
Mr Martin acknowledged that the restrictions of the current Level 5 lockdown to curb the spread of Covid-19 across the country were “tough” on people.
However, he added it was important to get cases of the virus down as low as possible over the next two weeks for “maximum flexibility” in December and beyond.
He said the Government was continuing to work on an exit plan from current restrictions in consultation with the National Public Health Emergency Team.
He insisted the collective effort of the Irish people was working, saying that ICU beds were filling up across Europe and that was “not the case” in Ireland.
