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THIS EVENING, TAOISEACH Micheál Martin announced the Covid-19 restrictions that would be eased over the next few weeks.
For the past three months, Ireland has been under Level 5 restrictions – with all non-essential retail, services like hairdressers, cultural institutions, gyms, pubs and restaurants closed – and severe restrictions on families and friends meeting each other.
The Government’s reopening plan began with the gradual return to school buildings in February, starting with children with special educational needs.
Since then, the Government has been grappling with balancing the public health priority to keep Covid-19 cases as low as possible as the vaccination rollout slowly ramps up, and giving the public a break from severe societal restrictions, particularly as the weather improves and more safe socialising is possible outdoors.
Although we had a good idea of what would be announced – here’s the final, confirmed list of what they decided on.
Although there are no measures being lifted from 5 April, there is a new rule that comes into play immediately:
Those who are fully vaccinated can meet with other fully vaccinated people from another household indoors without wearing masks or staying two metres apart.
Fully vaccinated means having two doses of the Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca vaccine, and two-week wait after the second dose before you have been innoculated.
On the pace of the vaccine rollout, the Taoiseach said:
Travel restrictions: There was a previous limit of 5km in place, with exceptions made for work, education or other essential purposes. This will be extended to within your county boundaries, or within 20km of your home, from 12 April.
Outdoor gatherings: Previously, two households could meet up outdoors for exercise. From 12 April, a household will now be allowed to meet up with one other household for socialising – but not in private gardens.
Construction: Construction has been paused since 8 January, apart from essential health and social housing projects. From 12 April, the construction of homes and childcare facilities will resume. This will involve around 14,000 workers, the Taoiseach said.
Schools: The remaining students who had not yet returned to school buildings will return to classrooms from 12 April.
Sports and exercise: Individual training had been allowed, along with professional, elite sports and horse and greyhound racing. But no indoor or outdoor exercise group activities are allowed, and no matches or events are taking place. From 19 April, high performance training will be allowed, which includes the return of inter-county senior GAA team training.
Weddings and funerals: Up to 10 people are currently allowed to attend a funeral – this will be increased to 25. There is no change for the number of people allowed at weddings – it stays at 6 guests who are allowed.
Sports and exercise: Tennis played outdoors and golf can resume as well as outdoor sports training for under 18s.
Attractions: Zoos and wildlife parks will be back open again from this date.
As these measures are expected to last until 4 May, more easing of restrictions will be considered then, including:
Retailers, hairdressers: In May, the phased re-opening of non-essential retail, and personal services such as hairdressers, will be discussed.
Also to be discussed are all non-contact sports training, religious services, museums, galleries and libraries, and additional freedoms for those who are fully vaccinated.
This will depend on the impact other measures have on Covid-19 cases, and the progress of the vaccine rollout.
Tánaiste Leo Varadkar told reporters at a post-announcement briefing that a decision had been made to make it a requirement for people arriving in Ireland to have a second negative or ‘not detected’ Covid-19 PCR test.
For anyone arriving in Ireland, they must have evidence of a negative or not detected PCR test. But it will now be a requirement that all arrivals into Ireland will also need a negative or not detected PCR test on arrival, too.
He said the exact logistics of this requirement need to be worked out.
Makes me realise how lucky we really are despite everything.
Oh ye! Being rules by morons is far easier than any of that! At least the morons who govern us just take our money!
Ur an awful bollox…
Why? Being ruled by idiots is heaven compared to any of that. Is it not?
Jesus, some of these pictures are harrowing and the stories behind them, even worse! It really makes you think about our own, ‘first world’ problems…
Puts things into context compared to the whining gimp patrol on here moaning that they cant afford skinny lattes and holidays because of the mortgage on their massive house
Thatcher was a great friend of Augusto Pinochet during and after his brutal reign. At the same time she was denouncing Nelson Mandela as a terrorist
I teach history and when it comes to the holocaust or the famine the kids always ask, how did people let that happen? Whats crazy is that we are still letting it happen!
You only have to look at the treatment of travellers to realise ‘hate’ is alive and well in Ireland.
Yeah it’s so shocking and depressing to see what people do to each other. Governments dont give a toss unless it’s worth something to them. Thousands being killed in Syria and all they’re doing is political posturing.
Those pictures of the North Korean kids goes to show the world what a “Socialist Paradise” really looks like.
And now the madness of NK has declared war on S Korea. Utter madness. What is going on within their heads?
As for the morons that say we are having it bad. Move to North Korea please.
I think your the only person describes it as a socialist paradise
Daniel I was being sarcastic using the usual leftie description of a socialist country.
My family affected in 2004 tsunami…still hav nightmares.
Nobody should be afraid to give to charity or to fill their Trocaire box….
There is always someone always worse off than us…
Not a cent would I give to Trocaire… I dont really care about the third world
Thousands of people were killed or ‘disappeared’ during the regime led by General Augusto Pinochet until 1988….
Two point nine thousand to be precise in 8 years. An hours work for Chairman Mao or Comrade Tito, both still very much beloved………
Seriously, it’s an insult to include Pinochet and not include the Balkans war. Pinochet’s only sin was to align his economic policy with the liberal Chicago school and produce a relative success of a country (in contrast to an array of Latin American lefties who screwed up their countries). On the other hand, the massacre in Srebrenica for example (for which the armed ‘forces’ of an EU country take the blame) resulted in three times more dead in only half a day. Your criteria, dear Journal, is rid of logic.
Chile was the world’s biggest producer of tin but it was being exported to America, especially to the Coca-Cola Co., for extremely low prices. When Allende came to power he wanted to nationalise the industry. This would have cost Coca-Cola millions as the tin for their cans and bottle tops all came from Chile. They put pressure on Henry Kissinger to do something about this. He in turn tasked the CIA to overthrow the government and replace it with one favourable to America’s needs. That’s where Pinochet came in. Thousands were murdered just so he could line his pockets, and America, a country that prides itself for its democracy, destroyed this fledgling democracy for purely monetary reasons. Pinochet didn’t create the Chilean economy. In fact, he set it back years.
Ah yes, the nationalization of various industries would have been another Latin American socialist success just like that of Argentina where Peron’s (national)socialists policies brought the country to a permanent state of disrepair. Argentina is a unique case in the economic history insofar that it was the only country in the World that managed to drop off the top-20 richest countries list (it was replaced by Japan) in the past 100 years. Even the BBC had this to say about Chile:
“The economy of Chile is ranked as an upper-middle income economy by the World Bank,[9] and is one of South America’s most stable and prosperous nations”
If it was down to Allende’s chest-thumping, this would have ended in IMF bail-outs and plundering of pension funds just like it did in Argentina (presumably also the fault of those goddamn Americans).
Bleeding-heart students don’t mind wearing badges with romantic images of that serial murderer CheGuevara for the same reason. So much about principles. Leftists generally like guys in uniforms who murder opposition and rule by decree but only if they align with socialist policies. Pinochet could have had his restaurants in Dublin like Mao only if he had read Marx a bit more and did not use leftist methods to deal with leftist thugs.
The story of Allende and Chile is what cemented me as a socialist. The likely election of a left govt in Greece, Syriza next time around could see a IMF/EU technocratic coup to ensure the austerity agenda is not interrupted in Europe. It’s very scary considering the openly fascist right wing that already has support in Greece.
You could have looked closer to home at Russia and Eastern Europe for how this whole socialism thing works out.
Look even closer to home, maybe the q for food parcels at the cappuchin friary to see how capitalism has worked out….
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