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LAST UPDATE | 26 Jan 2021
THE TAOISEACH HAS confirmed that Level 5 measures will remain in place until 5 March.
Micheál Martin said at a press conference this afternoon that the restrictions had been shown to have a positive effect in recent weeks, but that an extension of Level 5 was necessary if the number of patients in hospital was to be driven downwards.
A further tightening of incoming travel has also been confirmed, including mandatory 14-day quarantine in hotels for arrivals from ‘high-risk areas’ such as Brazil and South Africa and those without a negative PCR test.
The government also said that those entering the country from non ‘high-risk’ areas will be required to self-isolate at home by law for the first time.
Arrivals into the country from other red region countries, will still require a negative PCR test, but they will be allowed to leave their home if they can produce a negative PCR test five days after they arrive into the country.
These regulations will apply to anyone who travels into Ireland from any port or airport on the island, including ports and airports in Northern Ireland.
Visa-free travel from South Africa and Brazil will also be suspended until 5 March, while extra gardaí will be deployed at airports and ports to police the new travel restrictions.
“We must stay focused on the measures that will bring this disease under control, and which we as a country are in a position to deliver,” Martin said.
“The road we are on is hard. The length of time that we’ve had to live with restrictions and the proximity of vaccination makes it even harder, but it is the road we must take together.
“We have done it before. And we can do it again.”
The measures were agreed by members of the Cabinet today.
Tánaiste Leo Varadkar said it would take a number of weeks for the travel restrictions to become operational, due to a need by the government to find locations where incoming passengers can quarantine.
In a statement, the Irish Hotels Federation (IHF) said that the sector will engage with authorities with regards to providing quarantine facilities.
“We expect that the number of hotels required will be small and in the vicinity of airports. Participation will be a matter for individual hotels.,” IHF president Elaina Fitzgerald Kane said.
When considering the provision of facilities for quarantine purposes, decisions will have to be made around the suitability of the property from a structural and location perspective and some of the current safety protocols may need to be reviewed, depending on the nature of the support that is being provided.
Border
Transport Minister Eamon Ryan also suggested that gardaí will be able to turn people back at the border if they come from the North for a non-essential journey, but that this will not happen if individuals are travelling to an airport.
The Taoiseach said that the majority of people travelling into the country at present are Irish citizens, but added that “quite a number went on holidays during the Christmas period and are coming back”.
“I think that’s why a lot of the emphasis is on actually what we can do domestically to reduce non-essential travel by our citizens overseas, it’s a very important aspect of this and that’s why the extra garda checkpoints at airports and ports will have an impact.”
It is understood that depending on the pattern of the virus, the economy will be re-opened on a phased basis from April.
This would be similar to the approach taken heading into the summer last year, with guidance on home visits gradually relaxed and more shops and services gradually opening up.
Speaking last night, Tánaiste Leo Varadkar said that “what we’ll have to do on this occasion is any easing of restrictions which will have to be very, very, slow. More like the way we eased restrictions after the first wave”.
“It might start off very slow, maybe just with some retail, with maybe being allowed to meet two people outdoors, it’s going to be a very slow unwinding of restrictions but you know if we can get the figures down very low, that becomes a possibility,” he said on RTÉ’s Claire Byrne Live programme.
Government sources state that people need to understand that it won’t be a return to normality if restrictions do begin to lift this year, even with the vaccine numbers on the rise.
With reporting by Christina Finn, Orla Dwyer and Rónán Duffy
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Someone with an invisible passport
@Radovan Karadzic: brilliant
@Radovan Karadzic: clown
@Radovan Karadzic: on a flight from Abu Dhabi? Unlikely.
@Radovan Karadzic: If you would have spent 60 seconds on Google you would have known that a lot of international flights stop in Abu Dhabi.
Most (all?) Ireland to Australia flights do so.
I’m not Irish and according to your name, you’re not either, most likely from Serbia.
Bold comment from someone (potentially) coming from a country which is for 10 years in the EU?
@Wolfgang Bonow: he has multiple accounts. He is unfortunately irish.
@brian madden: This wouldn’t surprise me. Posting BS under one account and complaining under another why comments are closed.
It’s like in Kindergarten.
@brian madden: Quite unfortunate tbf!!
@Wolfgang Bonow: If they are given a pass by all the reasonable who could possibly counter their BS and get comments closed, why wouldn’t they, they see it as a win coz they force folks to treat them in a way they can then lament, the right wing playbook!
Will they please lock down the country ASAP just like they did for the runny nose pandemic
@Mr G Pickett: It’s funny that you think you’re funny ngl! I am amused!
@Mr G Pickett: we don’t have to because thankfully the vast majority of us are vaccinated against measles. A very effective vaccine against a highly contagious and dangerous disease. Unfortunately a few hippies and WEF-obsessed clowns refuse to get vaccinated, hence why the measles spike.
Surely the airline would have a list of passengers
@Tom Mc Donnell: Yes, but with GDPR, the airline may need to contact each passenger individually to get their consent before releasing their information
@Cathy Cagney: Only the one plane tho. Few mins a call….a day of work for a few people??
I’m just hoping no one with Ebola Virus turns up at Dublin Airport!
@Brian Hunt: High lethality rate, but not very contagious.
@Brian Hunt: the good thing about Ebola is symptoms appear quickly and in most cases severely. Easy to spot and contain. There are probably worse viruses out there that we haven’t come across yet.
@Brian Hunt: Or are you just fear-mongering? Hard to know!
@Chutes: Then try harder!
@Brian Hunt: At what exactly? Knowing? Sure though if I’m honest, hard to know where to begin trying to understand such fkwittery ngl. I’ll try tho just for you!
@Chutes: I couldn’t care less about you think, you’re just another virtue signalling member of the Holier-Than-Thou Brigade!
Wasn’t that long ago we couldn’t get into Tesco without a muzzle and a green light.
The good ole days.
@Gerard Carey: Ah yes good times…at one stage to go for a drink you had to show U were vaccinated…show ID..Give your address & phone number and then be told to be out by 8…Good times indeed, brilliantly handled.
Funny how no goverment on this old blue planet had a plan in place for such an event…not like we didn’t have scares like, Bird flu, Sars….mad cow disease… ebola…Hmmmm…some might say our world governments were a wee bit negligent .
@Gerard Carey: A muzzle? Isn’t that hyperbole at its finest!
@Diarmuid Hunt: Hyperbole at its finest, indeed.
@Gerard Carey: Be honest, did ya have to look up ‘hyperbole’ before you replied? ;)
No wonder the comments section is closed on most articles with all the alt-right conspiracy nutters posting on here.
@alan wallace: you could say the same for “offended by everything” left.
@alan wallace: Utter lunatics
@alan wallace: you say conspiracy nutters, guess thats the easiest way for you to label people who asked questions that needed to & still need to be asked about the fiasco that was the handling of Covid.
@alan wallace: Until folks are willing to take them on it will continue, it’s the same as complaining about governance, until you stand they will continue to fk you!
As the Irish love to say, ‘beatings will continue until morale improves’. They will for as long as you are willing to accept the beatings. Maybe the English made us so willing to accept our lot over the many generations, who knows eh?
Until reasonable folks come together, those that would divide us will continue to stupidly easily because they are motivated, organised and together in their efforts. It’s remarkably simple to stop them but it takes collective action.
At least you’ve noticed. Now all you need is the next single step, whatever that may be to you, doesn’t need to be here but you know you need to do something, clearly evidenced by your comment. There are many more who would join you in whatever form your resistance may take. There is so much to resist these days. Try here, try somewhere!
@damien leen: Who exactly have you personally asked questions of and I don’t mean someone down the pub after hours?
@James Reardon: the ‘offended by everything left’ jibe doesn’t exactly ring true when it mostly used by people who would protest against the opening of an envelope if they had nothing left to rail against.
@Setanta O’Toole: @James Reardon clearly has difficulties with the concept of truth! Stop picking on him like the radical leftie you are, it’s no wonder all those strong men are so afraid kappa!
How about isolating sick people instead of allowing them in schools, work and travelling?
@Lisa O’Connor: Unfortunately some diseases, like measles, the symptoms aren’t always obvious while the person is still contagious. The rash (most commonly known & recognised symptom) can appear 7 days after a person becomes infectious. So it’s hard to lock anyone down when they don’t have any symptoms.
Is there anything to be said for another lock down?
What’s the difference between Dubai and Abu Dhabi?
The people in Dubai don’t like the Flintstones, but the people in Abu Dhabi do.
I know, I know, sorry!
@Steve: lol, at least ur sorry! :)
Sunday was 10th March.
Was Sunday not the 10th March??
That’s my joke, must be a Steve thing….
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