IRELAND’S COVID-19 RESTRICTIONS are set to be eased slightly tomorrow, after over three months at Level 5 restrictions.

The biggest change will be to travel restrictions, with people set to be able to travel within their own county for non-essential purposes.

Until now, non-essential travel was limited to 5km from a persons’ home.

Some small social gatherings will also be allowed, with two households being permitted to meet up outside for recreational purposes. This was previously limited to exercise alone, and indoor visits are still not permitted.

The new regulations also state that while gatherings should take place outdoors, they shouldn’t take place within private gardens and that social distancing should be observed by the two households.

The easing comes as more countries are being added to the mandatory hotel quarantine list, with the addition of the United States as well as several European countries like France, Belgium and Italy.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin said that the move to add more countries to the list was based on a public health rationale.

“We had been advised in the context of variants of concern that adding these countries would add a greater degree of protection at this particular point in time,” said Martin.

There will also be a slight return of construction, with the building of houses to resume from tomorrow.

However, a further return of the construction industry is not expected until May.