Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
THE CABINET HAS signed off on strict new mandatory quarantine measures for all arrivals from 20 countries.
The quarantine measures will apply for arrivals from Brazil, the UAE, Austria and 17 African countries.
It also applies for passengers who arrive into Ireland with no negative PCR test with them.
Persons arriving will have to stay at designated hotels for up to 14 days. Flouting of these rules is expected to met with a heavy fine.
Breaching mandatory quaratnine will result in a €4,000 fine or one month in prison for the first offence. The second offence will result in a fine of €4,500 and /or one month in prison, and in the case of the third offence it’s €5,000 and /or six months in prison.
Legislation is expected to be brought before the Dail and the Seanad next week, before it comes into effect in March.
Opposition TDs have said the legislation is “full of holes” as it only applies to certain countries when there are different Covid-19 variants present in other countries.
Speaking to RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Transport Minister Eamon Ryan said that the government was following advice from the ECDC and chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan in its proposals.
“The CMO has designated 20 countries,” Ryan said. “If that has to be widened or extended, then we will do it.”
Health Stephen Donnelly previously told the Cabinet that a high level implementation group will work out the operational details, such as how to deal with instances of non-compliance, when people arrive into Ireland without having arranged their quarantine in advance.
It is understood that the group will also be tasked with establishing options for a system to handle advanced reservation, with a focus on private providers – the preference is thought to be for an outfit that can provide transportation as well as hotel accommodation.
It has long been mooted that private security companies will be tasked with looking after the facilities, however, Cabinet was also told on Tuesday that they would have no enforcement powers in detailing someone should the decide to leave the hotel.
In that case, gardaí would be called to attend for breaches in the Covid-19 regulations, the the AGSI has said they have yet to be informed of how operationally it will work.
It is expected that the hotels will provide full board in en suite rooms, with laundry and cleaning services also provided.
Persons staying in the facility will have to take Covid tests during their stay.
Despite the measure being announced a number of weeks ago, the legislation to underpin the mandatory isolation of people in hotels has only been finalised in recent days.
With reporting from Christina Finn
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
He is right about the music being played on the majority of radio stations nowdays…..utter tripe.
Phantom FM plays good music, but like most stations there’s far too much talk on it these days, especially that poisonous Joe and Keith show in the morning.
I actually loved Joe and Keith in the mornings but Keith has left and joined 2FM for the morning show with Jennifer and Bernard (Republic of Telly) :(
Getting old Steve?
agreed. they should bring back pure morning with richie and Michelle. That was far and away the best morning show.
Delighted to hear Keith has left, I might start tuning in again. And Pure Morning was brilliant, the best ever breakfast show in my opinion.
Exactly, I liked his test in music I’m certain that John Clarke will not be off the air for long.
Try BBC 6Music or other online stations like KRCW Eclectic. There ARE great stations out there. I only discovered the itunes radio button a while back and it has been a revelation.
Is Keith gone? Good. They’re only half bad now. Nova’s breakfast show is grand. Phantoms lunchtime music is broadly excellent.
Phantom plays awful music. Truely awful. Better than most of 2Fm and Spin(what ive heard of it) but thats not saying much. But it should be playing trailblazing music, not some of the so called “Indie” stuff it tries to pass off.
Jayney…John Creedon and even Late Date and Ronan Collins plays a better selection than Phantom does over any given 24hrs. You’re more likely to hear Gorkys Zygotic Mynci and rare outakes on their shows. And thats Radio 1. Saming Phantom. Phantom will give you The Killers on rotation.
An Taobh Tuathaill on Radio na Gaeltachta – 9-11pm weeknights – quality stuff.
That comment is almost entirely bullshit.
Who is listening to that “$& and how is anyone making any advertising revenue. Under 35 and you are on spotify over it and you are either listening to podcasts or flicking channels vowing not to buy the stuff advertised coz the channel is so bad.
At the very beginning 2fm had its finger very firmly on the pulse of the nation…now you would be lucky to find a pulse in 2fm
RTE Pulse – I’ve heard of that! lol It’s actually a good dance music station. Some talk, but an alternative to those willing to change channels. Even RTE 2XM is better.
Ha ha v good
Oh dear! :$
Taking on a talentless knob like Nicky Byrne is at the heart of all this uneasiness in 2fm ,he is been accommodated at the expense of a lot of experienced and professional dj’s who have kept that station afloat for 20 odd years and are now been axed and shifted to allow the celebrity brigade run the show.Radio may not have the following it once had due to the Internet but hiring some karaoke boy band moron ain’t the solution.
Very true. I don’t listen to the radio much but when I heard Nicky Byrne was given a slot on 2FM I was astounded. I mean, what’s his background in media other than being a member of Westlife which, I suppose, is what it is. I wouldn’t listen to him; I imagine “Well, when I was in Westlife…” would get very tiresome within a week.
Really, whats Nicky Byrne going to chat about between records? Im marrried to berties daughter?
Is that not you Cecilia?
An he was only part of westlife for a few years & then got to big for his boots & left the group & to be honest don’t hear much of him on radio or tv since… Won’t be listening to him anyway & colm hayes… Gonna just boycott 2fm now & find a new radio station to listen to as will, larry & john Clarke are all gone now more or less…
a sure he needs the money???
I’m not a 2FM fan but his show on a Sunday morning was quiet enjoyable and an escape from all the serious stuff and country music that every other radio station seems to do on a Sunday….best of luck to him in the future.
Yea you could almost smell the Sunday roast when you were listening to his show. He’ll probably end up on 4fm with a new Sunday show
Yes, I found the Sunday show as perfect family time music. Lots of forgotten tunes, bit of cheese, a great relief from the constant sell, sell, sell of usual commercial radio stations. It provoked some nice memories and there were some great tunes to get the kids dancing whilst I cooked the dinner. Shame it’s gone.
John Clarke was the only DJ I Listened to on 2fm in recent years. I genuinely hate Jennifer Maguire – the most awful/unfunny ‘celebrity’ of her generation and wow she has competition !!
She’s a fine thing!
If she’s a fine thing then a radio job won’t exactly do justice. Ha
She’s the opposite of Pat Kenny!
Boycott the broadcast charge!
Jennifer Maguire + That Bernard eejit + Nicky Byrne = Zero Value for money
Republic of Telly has being going downhill for years now, due in no small part to those eejits.
And your man is right in what he days about too much talking on the radio. DJs seem to be in love with their own voices these days…
Not being smart here Kevin, I agree with what your saying but how can the broadcast charge be boycotted? Isn’t it being directly taken out of wages?
If they take it out if wages then send bills to rte requesting money back. Overwhelm them. Protest the donnybrook offices and make it impossible for them to operate. Save every family 160-200 a year
I’m on my way Kevin – are you there now too ?
Have work in 1 hours. I didn’t call a protest just recommended one.
Like most people – all talk no action
Well done to John Clarke for standing up for what he believes in 2fm is finished with all there big changes back to today fm hope John is back on the air soon
The days of the radio DJ are over unfortunately. Today there are radio presenters who play music to satisfy corporate interests. These presenters have little or no knowledge of music. John Clarke was one of the last bone fide radio DJ’s
100%
Haven’t listened to 2FM in years. A talentless bint from RTE 2 and a has-been pop singer isn’t going to change that.
He’s right about Larry Gogan, shows what a mess 2fm is in.
All I can say thank god for tunein!!!
Nicky Byrne… Desperate.
Shame to see John go. I remember him from his very popular breakfast show on the original Radio Nova. I wish him well and hope he’s snapped up by the competition.
I can’t bare to even listen to the radio especially in the morning. It’s so unfunny and hackey crap. “Oh make a name of a band up incorporating a type of fish into a well know bands name” mind numbing stuff. Do ppl really find this stuff funny and interesting ? Play some music and shut up
“Guess the sound.”
Flip off and play some music. No, not Beyoncé and One Direction. Back to Newstalk or podcasts.
2fm are dumbing down for the X Factor crowd.
Spotify – listen to what you want, when you want.
Spotify is great, love it driving long journeys. Don’t have to listen to ads or stupid DJ’s. I find topics of conversations on radio pure nonsense
Agreed Mark. Or Radio Paradise. An online station that just plays music, a really good selection imo.
Sadly I think they are only pandering to what a lot of people want these days. I like talk radio but generally more serious topics like current affairs and sport. Don’t like mindless chatter. Usually I can find stations or slots to meet this need. I like music too. Good music . It’s wrong to say all current music is shite because it’s not but it would be nice if they played more of the better stuff and plugged up and coming Irish bands more. I will miss Will won’t miss Hector that much. All that said I don’t think anyone wants Nicky Byrne. New blood is inevitable and welcome but it has to be the right new blood.
I haven’t listened to 2FM in years , I’m fed up paying a licence fee to subsidise a loss making organisation that despite increases in the fee cannot balance it’s books .
Well said John and good luck to you .
Nicky Byrne. Lottie Ryan. That is all.
This happened to one of my favourite radio stations last year only it happened all at once. Corporate lingo calls it progress. Everyday language, it’s known as being screwed over.
Classy exit !
I’m a Matt Cooper man meself. Who wants to hear DJ’s in love with themselves yapping over the music?
Times have changed. Music is widely accessible now. That’s what iPods are for.
>>Times have changed. Music is widely accessible now. That’s what iPods are for.<<
Times have changed. No one uses iPods anymore, smartphones ftw! :)
I’ve just deleted 2fm from my car stereo automatic selection. Nicky Byrne on the radio? Fบck off annoying little dub
I have no time for the idiot. I can’t stand his ascent.
I have been involved with community radio for nearly twenty years, we have filled the gaps left by the main stations. This gap is getting much bigger and 2fm have probably just put the final nail in the coffin. Even Phantom have gone the way of the majors with their morning show. It doesn’t have to be all music and it doesn’t even have to be all chart/90s/hits. There is room for an intelligent talk/music/current affairs station aimed at the under 40s (admittedly not my demographic) but Rte don’t have the balls to do it and no commercial enterprise (ie Denis O’brien) will take the risk. I blame the BAI for giving the aforementioned too much control. Could be a good time for pirates.
Come on we’ll set one up!
Well said John, talk about burning your bridges like a boss!
always loved Johns shows, will be a loss to the station, bring back the pirates!!
Been listening to John on a Sunday for as long as I can remember, his was the only show on 2FM I would listen to. Why get rid of quality like this and keep the likes of Paddy McKenna? Sort it out 2fm
2FM should be abolished, we don’t need it, this market is saturated and we can’t afford it. I can understand the argument that RTE (Government radio) fills the gaps that commercial stations say are not viable but “FM is nothing but more tripe (and costly tripe at that). Lets be honest RTE is irrelevant now, it has lost the respect of many due to it’s biased coverage of Government and lack of coverage of what this bailout has cost in human terms. I think RTE should be made stand alone and as the big noises in Ireland like to tell us “let the market decide”. The final straw for me was RTE paying out €85000 of our money to people who are homophobic whether they know it or not.
I object to talentless twits like Gerry Ryan’s sprog and Bertie’s clown of a son in law getting gigs
Loved the show John…
In fairness if you are listening to radio for the music you have issues.spotify, tunein and smartphones kill it of years ago.
Best ever radio programme
Wish you well
Sorry to see the show go. Really loved listening to it on Saturdays and Sundays. I used to really look forward to turning on the radio and hearing something different that wouldn’t get a chance to be played during the week. Best of luck John and thanks for the music (pun intended).
Valentines Day Protest – For the listeners who loved the Will Leahy show and John Clarke Show. Gates of RTE Donnybrook D4 14th Feb starting 4:30pm until 7pm
RTE 2 should be shut down. It’s noting whatsoever to do with Public Broadcasting. I never ever listen to it but would be sent to jail for not paying for it. The government should only be involved in what cannot be done any other way.
Im sure he made plenty of hay during his time. why do we have to pay for this nonsense or they put a gun to our heads?
I don’t listen to 2fm so this makes no difference to my life. They’re all overpaid for pushing buttons on a box anyway.
John Clarke was far more than a button presser, he actually knew and loved the music. I don’t know of any other show where you could ask for a song hardly anyone had heard of and he would go to his record collection, transfer it to digital and play it for you. And in the rare event he didn’t have a copy you could be sure one of the other listeners would. Spotify and the like are great, but it was the anecdotes and history which John brought that can’t be replicated. Work on Sundays is not going to be the same without the Jukebox playing in the background.
John Clarke always reminds me of heading to the Crescent Shopping Centre on Sunday afternoon to engage in some retail therapy. Thanks for the memories John.
2fm and RTE are ruthless. Larry Gogan should get outta there before they ruin him. They dont seem to put any value on the fabulous DJ s who established “radio 2″.. Dave Fanning, Gerry Ryan Rip,
Its a sad day indeed. Best of luck John. You were right to stuff it to em..
Much as I am loathe to promote anything RTE do, the digital station RTE Gold is actually great. It’s like a constant John Clarke show. No ads, no DJ, just constant classic tunes.
Fair play to John Clarke for sticking it to 2FM, his show will be sadly missed. A staple of Sunday afternoons in my house while we make the Sunday roast.
2FM will never be on in the house again, except maybe for Larry.
On line radio is the only way to go now, far too much supposedly funny jocks on that love to hear themselves, dedicated music stations on line have far less rubbish talk , shame really, grew up in an era where radio Luxembourg was listened to regardless of the gaps in reception, and the Innocence of TOTP … The tube , not saying RTE should remain in the past but a balance ..
Absolutely- I recommend BBC 6music and KRCW eclectic24. There is some talk on BBC but it is always about music, not gossip rubbish. Great stations for discovering all kinds of music. RTE has never been interested in music – ever. Even LyricFM is totally off beam now. Maybe they try to save money by not paying royalties for new music and just get in a load of cheap tunes.
loved listening to john most sundays a shame to hear he is gone
He shouldn’t worry he did his best and that is the main thing.
This won’t work for 2FM or music radio. Music radio in Ireland has been slipping for number of years especially since death of Gerry Ryan. They are slowly cutting off DJs who know their music and music history and have so much information on the subject and those that know their way round a studio. What is this really annoying thing of bringing celebs (hate that word) or retired boyband singers into slots in place of experienced people? The only thing I can think of is they are doing it for half nothing and RTE need to save cash. RTE have a habit of paying their staff way too much to start with and in other ways treating them badly and they have/wll lose some of their best people to stations abroad where they will at least be appreciated. As a listener to RTE radio for yonks and as a person who always pays my licence fee I do not agree with what is being done at the moment. Jennifer Maguire, Dermot yerman and Westlife ex………….not on my patch thanks. I will prob turn over to BBC or some other foreign station. One other complaint RTE… in either TV or Radio ye do not give enough air time to new bands or the older bands who have paid their dues. We have to wait for record companies or foreign stations to tell us about the discovery of yet other BRILLIANT musicians, song writers and singers from Ireland. Oh, and one more thing…….I do not rate RTE to choose anyone worth sending to the Eurovision…………let someone else choose pls or lets just give up the ghost on that one.
Lot of people not happy with Nicky Byrne getting job and I get the point that would be better to have up and coming talent getting jobs than celebs but haven’t seen one person having a problem with Will Leahy having a full time job as a solicitor and d.j. ing on a so called public service station.
2FM is poisonous and always has been. I don’t think anybody would miss it if it went away. Radio with an identity crisis. Thankfully with the internet I have a choice of music stations to listen to
Are they going to be taking it out your wages now? Luckily I work of the books. So I will continue not to pay this embarrassment of a channel to the Irish.
I’ll stick with BBC 6 Music – really great music and zero ads. And people who know and love their music.
Get rid of Ruth Scott too please!!!
I cannot stand that woman
Never liked Clarkes show. Same dinosaur mysic every week. Leahys show was good and it’s a mistake putting yet another talk show in that time slot. Think Nicky Byrne deserves a chance. Heard him standing in for Tubridy and thought he was a natural.
Nick Phelan tell that to the media studies student who will have to emigrate because there are no jobs because they have all be given to people we are sick to death of hearing and seeing.
It was the only show on 2FM to accommodate the older listener or as john himself called it ‘dad rock’.
It was also the longest running show on 2FM which showed just how popular it was.
RTE, as a publicly funded broadcaster are obliged to accommodate ALL, and all this demographic got was 3 hours a week.
And before you say what about Larry, he’s not allowed play anything pre 1990.
Even though I’m in that age category myself, radio 2 aa it was then known WAS set up specifically for youth market
Good
As a loyal 2fm listener for over 20 yrs I will be switching off to another station. There are plenty of Spin type teeny stations and “funny ha ha” breakfast shows. The current day schedule was fine.
Larry’s Golden Hour is the best hour of the day! Alan Swan has a good breakfast show and should be left to develop his own audience. Will Leahy should not be moved from drive time. Colm Hayes in the morning is an excellent show but it should not be moved. The 2 shows that improved in ratings( Hayes and Leahy) are to be axed. 2fm’s real target audience has been moving stations for years and I will be joining them.
2fm has had its day. Why the state is funding fm104 style pop radio is beyond justification.
RTE’s annual accounts showed that losses at 2fm exceeded €13m between 2010 and 2012.
Colm Hayes is the most irritating man on the radio – the crap he plays too .
Well said. I will miss lorry gogan
Well said. I will miss lorry gogan
Good guys but 2Fm was a response to pirate radio in the 80′s. The country is well services by a huge spectrum of music radio now which means 2FM is no longer needed. The tax money saved would be better spent on Health and Education.
The worst show on radio has to the strawberry alarm that Jim Jim is a knob head and there is no chemistry between the two of them with the superstar Jim Jim always correcting noble
lot of dolls been thrown out of prams for free advertising for a shite station
Well done John. Nice guy and thanks for all those Bee Gees CDs. Good show and long time no see!
Dave Lee Travis did that back in 93, if I remeber correctly. Also Smashie and Nicey (Harry Enfield and Paul Whitehouse) did a great parody of it too.
Good luck John . Remembering the days back in the ( ATTIC )
Wheter long journey driving , lying in bed or cooking ..scrolling through the channels …i hit the 2fm button… Should call it 2 seconds fm …..the same thump thump and bubble gum crap …exactly 2 seconds before i change channels.
A sad loss to radio
I hate 2fm but the line up is about to get a HELL of a lot worse! John Clarke is too good for it. Nicky Byrne and Jennifer Maguire??!! Enough already!!!
Don’t listen to that on your phone, had to restart mine because it kept playing radio Luxembourg ads
People can stream exactly the music they want now. But there must be a place for the shared music experience, where you hear something for the first time for example. I have little interest in radio friendly music but would have to say 2fm is the last place I’d go for music. RnaG at night or John Creedon are about it for me. Beyond that it’s online.
Never underestimate the arrogance and bewildering self importance of dj’s. So he did a Dave lee Travis. So what. Never listened to him. Another smashey and nicey bites the dust.
Why am I reading this crap?
John is very savvy when it comes to radio. Mel Brooks song , Its good to be the king was an obvious throw back to the real Nova who played that song on their final day. Clarke was there that day. Radio is too formatted. Dj,’s\ presenters should have more control. Today FM are starting to do the same. Just look at the early morning slot presenter being promoted to midday without the knowledge, skill or personality. Good on you John Clarke.
John Clarke is true gentleman, I worked with him in Big d radio many years ago. Best of luck John
RTE is I click like all of Ireland
Bring back Pat Farrell..
By the way RTE seems to be the only place in the world where you resign and get to keep your job. Clarke has been reassigned.
So what? If they have a use for his talents, why throw him on the scrapheap? He has decades of experience in production and management.
It is a great pity as I listened to it from all over the world. Now I will be without something special. RTE will not be the same without John Clarke.
Good luck john no sentiment anymore
It used to annoy me though for years john Clarke as left the building !! So you really did 4 sure
have your say