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.
LAST UPDATE | 6 Jan 2021
TAOISEACH MICHÉAL MARTIN said today that schools will stay closed for the remainder of this month with a review to be taken on when they will reopen.
Schools have not reopened since the Christmas break due to surging Covid-19 cases in the community and Cabinet decided today that they should remain closed.
Martin said in an address this afternoon however that students in the final year of their Leaving Certificate cycle will be allowed to attend school for three days a week. The Taoiseach reaffirmed the government’s commitment to the State exams proceeding as planned this year.
The Taoiseach also said that special education should remain open “with protections in place”.
Speaking at a post-Cabinet briefing at Government Buildings this afternoon, the Taoiseach outlined a range of new restrictions on top of the Level 5 measures already in place.
Martin confirmed that all construction except that which is deemed “essential” will cease for the remainder of January, commencing from 6pm on Friday.
The essential projects include health projects, schools and social housing with a list published on Gov.ie.
Martin also addressed childcare issues arising from the continued closure of schools, particularly relating to the children of essential workers.
Childcare services will close generally until the end of the month, but can remain open for vulnerable children and the children of essential workers.
On retail, click and collect from non-essential retail outlets is no longer be permitted with immediate effect.
Regarding travel, the current ban on travel from Britain and South Africa will continue until Saturday, at which point all passengers coming from those two countries will be required to be in possession of a negative PCR test that they acquired within 72 hours of travelling.
This new mandatory requirement will be in place until the end of the month when it will be reviewed.
Speaking about the decision that Leaving Cert students could attend schools for three days, the Taoiseach said it was “a difficult decision”.
“Education is the great equaliser and it’s the single most important factor in the great progress that this country has made since its foundation,” he said, later adding:
“The issue is the mobilisation of people. There’s a big difference between 61,000 people coming in in a staggered way, 61,000 Leaving Cert students, as opposed to a million people which would involve the entire population of teachers and students.
“We know from last year the huge difficulty in terms of developing an alternative to the Leaving Certificate, and its importance for this generation of students.”
In terms of supports, the government has also said that both the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) and Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme would remain at their current levels until 31 March.
Virus spread
The announcement of even tougher Covid-19 restrictions comes as Ireland experiences a daily growth rate of Covid-19 cases that is outpacing most of Europe.
Earlier today, it was confirmed that the number of people currently in hospital with Covid-19 eclipsed the previous peak of the pandemic in April.
Speaking about the situation, Martin said:
We are in a battle against the deadly and ever changing virus, the lockdown we are introducing today is designed to reflect that stark and simple reality. Unless you were involved in absolutely essential work, you have no reason to be away from your home and you simply must stay at home.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
There is no need to tip in Ireland, unless the food and service is exceptional then I rarely tip. This is not the states, everyone working in the restuarant is on at least the minimum wage.
@David Ronan: that’s nice of you. Most wait staff are paid barely the minimum wage. It’s nice if you to go spend your money to eat in a restaurant with your principal that despite you clearly affording to eat in a restaurant, that minimum wage is enough for them.
@David Ronan: in Ireland I tip 5 to 10 euro in a restaurant. Not in a cafe or bar. Here in the US it’s around 18% on everything. After a while it becomes habit. It’s just what you do.
@John B: your comment is somewhat ridiculous. Tipping exists because service staff, bell boys, bar backs, dish washers in the states earn less than minimum wage and are subsidized by tipping culture. This is not the case in Ireland.
@David Ronan: big deal David so the workers are rolling in cash . You sound like a guy who don’t know how much that wage is.
@John B: plenty of people survive off minimum wage and don’t get tips outside of the restaurant industry. People shouldn’t feel guilty if they decide to spend their earned cash on a meal out and should be expected to give tips for average or poor service. Plus some places now include a service charge on top of their listed menu prices
Most Irish people don’t and I’d agree with you except when I’m in Dublin. Living cost so expensive there I always tip in Dublin
@David Ronan: Tight arse
@David: most commenters here seem quite stingy and mean. I always find it delightful in the US and elsewhere where staff rely on tips. They are genuinely pleasant and try to ensure you really enjoy your stay. It is of course because they rely on tips and cash is an excellent motivator. The wait staff in Ireland don’t know if one of you stingy lot will tip or not and therefore there is no motivation for them to be nice.
@David Ronan: Very true David. Where staff are paid a wage tipping is the customer paying twice for the same thing. I prefer the Scandinavian model where waiters will even return your tips and tell you that they are paid properly.
A US style tipping culture favors the bling gangster who is flashing cash everywhere. It is gauche.
@David Ronan: I agree, some of them charge ridiculous prices for their food and it wouldn’t feed a mouse. So now and then, I’d tip if they have been nice and served a reasonable sized meal. But other times, I expect my bill to cover all expenses and wages.
@John B: the motivation for them to be nice is keeping their jobs. I worked for over a decade in minimum wage jobs, no one tipped me, and I didn’t expect to be tipped because I was being paid. It shouldn’t be different for waiters or bar staff. If the service is great, I’ll tip. If not, why should I?
@John B, @Alan Scott, Actually, I used to work in the service industry when I was in school and college even before the minimum wage was introduced so I know exactly how it feels and how much they earn.
I still stand by my statement though.
@David Ronan: in the USA there is a lower minimum wage for staff that can be tipped.
So tipping is a way to bring those staff up to and above minimum wage. Notwithstanding that, the business still has to go up the pay to the higher minimum wage for staff who haven’t Got enough tips.
In Ireland there isn’t a lower min wage for staff that can be tipped. This tipping is sheep copying their American friends but for the wrong reason. This then becomes a social norm and a way to demonstrate your own generosity to inflate ones ego
@John B: I tip but surely it’s up to an individual whether they rip or not, it’s a personal choice. So your mock outrage on the previous comment is not fair, it’s a free world, it’s his choice.
Also if you had a really bad experience, whether service or bad food, of course you shouldn’t be expected to tip.
Finally most staff except temporary
Summer staff generally earn above the minimum wage, unlike USA, an entirely different culture when it comes to eating out.
@Martin Fahy: “mock outrage”? I can assure you my blood pressure is normal and my face is a nice irish arctic white. But still it is clear the the journal commenters are a miserly bunch, I’m surprised they even eat at restaurants.
@John B: I should remember to start tipping most of the clothes shop workers too. They usually earn minimum wage. Must start tipping the guy I pay the petrol to too, sure he’s on minimum wage as well.
@cholly appleseed: cholly I recognize it can be challenging to differentiate between occupations where the face of customer service impacts on the experience. But for me, when I get home with a new jumper that I like, the face of the grumpy cashier won’t affect the enjoyment of my new clothes. Clearly this is very different in a restaurant where unpleasant service can ruin a good night out.
@John B: that really isn’t the customers concern..
@David: Do you tip fast food workers? Of course not so stop being a hypocrite by calling others cheap.
@David Ronan: I agree!
Maybe we should tip the guy from I.T who fixed the printer this morning?
If restaurant owners are not paying there staff enough then why should the public have to almost subsidize there wages??
@John B: John, you do realise that when this “miserly bunch” spend the money they have worked for in any restaurant or cafe or whatever that they are already contributing to the staffs wages? If those same staff are unhappy with their wages they should get a different job, that’s what I did anyway.
@Eamonn Sheen: I rarely eat fast food. And I usually get it delivered when I do, the driver gets the change.
@John B: most people who have meals out do so as a treat and are not all high earners Tip is the service they provide is good otherwise Don’t ,They get around €10 per hour and some but not all also get service charges too ,just because we might go to a restaurant doesn’t mean we have to pay twice
@John B: and retail staff? You tip them I suppose?
@John B: at least they are paid the minimum wage. So are thousands of others who are not left tips. Change jobs if you want to earn more. If enough waiting staff left, the pay rate would have to increase—it’s called supply and demand.
We are slowly turning into the US where tipping is almost becoming mandatory. Tipping should be the exception rather than the rule where you show you appreciation for an exceptional service. It should never be expected by staff and their wages shouldn’t depend on it.
Once when I was in the US, I genuinely forgot to tip a bellboy who helped move our luggage a few meters into a lift. I was promptly reminded by him that tipping is expected. There are a lot of good things about America but can we please not emulate their tipping culture?
@Tweety McTweeter: I totally agree, when I was last in US I met this young Irish girl working in a restaurants for $5:00 a hour, this was a pretty good restaurant, her was not that good an only could survive the work along with her tips. we are paying for a service that have to pay their workers, not exploiting them.
I’m in a minimum wage job where we don’t get tips, so it has to be really good service for me to tip someone who’s getting the same or higher wage than me.
@Ariana: change to that industry if you’re going to moan about it.
It would depend on the service, entirely. I’ve been in places where you don’t even get offered water, or a cofffee etc. when you sit down. Then they leave you sitting there for 15 minutes and don’t take any sort of order. I’ve walked out of places like that too.
If they want a tip – they should earn it and it shouldn’t be a given. If you don’t get a tip then read between the lines, it’s because the service wasn’t that good.
However, I’m quite happy to leave 25% tip or more if the staff are polite, the service is good, and the food is properly prepared (not reheated shite from the day before – as there is a difference between reheated food and freshly cooked).
@Eugene Tyson: Are you sure you are not going into fast food restaurants waiting for table service.
@Eugene Tyson: should you tip more for a bottle of champagne rather than a pitcher of beer?
Riddle me that!
@David: funny enough not a lot of people tip at fast food chains.
@kevin: If you tip a percentage then you would tip more for champagne. Unless you drink a very expensive beer.
@kevin: I’d be happy to tip in either circumstance, however, if the service was particularly bad or either not chilled to the correct temperature then the tip calculator begins to slide towards zero. I just hope the person delivering the champagne does so with gusto and a smile rather than contempt and hatred. After all if i can splash the cash on Champagne then the server should know that I have more money than sense and be prompt and polite to ensure they receive a larger cash reward for perpetuating the job they were hired to do.
@David: shut up
@Eugene Tyson: 25% is charity.
@Lily Martin: err yes I understand %. I’m just pointing out the ridiculousness of % tipping
@kevin: and what’s won’t with that
Shop workers are on minimum wage – shouldn’t they get a tip too?
@Pat Redmond: it makes about as much sense as tipping a waiter. I do tip and usually 10% but it’s just habit and basically expected. I still will but when you think about it, it’s not nessessary.
I never understood why people leave a % of the bill. IF I tip I leave a fiver, if there is a service charge, I don’t leave anything. This is not America where the tips are your wages.
Tipping is as annoying as unpaid internships. Both culturally forced norms that allow employers to underpay (or not pay) their staff. Tipping especially is the company saying ‘pay for your meal or your hotel room or other service, then help us pay the wages of our staff.’
Tip for good service that reflects the number of people served. If its a large group id be inclined to tip more.
It would be nice to be able to go out for a meal,but most family’s cannot afford it.struggle to get through the week and put food on the table at home.before anyone starts,I’ve been working from 12 yrs of age, consistently all my life.
@@mdmak33: Most familys can’t afford it?! Struggle to put food on the ta leg at home?!
Where are you getting this madness from?
@@mdmak33: *on the table
Working now for 20 yrs and never got a tip from a customer yet. So i never give tips
@Jonathan Mc Elhinney: maybe your an arsehole?
The food here is too expensive in rip off Ireland. Tip already paid for.
Nobody should or be forced to tip.it should be completely up to the customer
When you think about it, the concept of tipping as they have it in the US makes no sense. Basically, as well as paying for the service from the business (a restaurant in this ase), you are also making a contribution to one of the business’s main expenses (the wages it pays its staff). Is there any other sector where this occurs? Why should the buyer be doing this? Business expenses are for the business to take care of. Not you.
I would tip only if the service was exceptional for some reason.
Fair play to that Australian rapper, ‘Buoys in the Hood’ stuff right there. To be honest, I don’t believe in tipping I just leave a kinder egg after every meal.
Nobody is getting an automatic tip from me. When it is included on the bill I won’t eat there. And yes I do ask when booking a table.
Only if I get a great service will I give a tip and I am happy to say that I do most times I eat out however some staff clearly don’t want to be there and this shows in the service they give so I give them nothing.
Reservoir Dogs Mr Pink says…..
I always tip the staff, even in take-aways, before my food comes up, also I tip bar-staff,
They work hard unsociable hours & I feel they deserve tips, just like staff in fancy restaurants.
Treat them with respect, & they treat you in a similar manner.
Good feelings all around…
More absolute nonsense, like other poster said THIS IS NOT THE USA, where some restaurant staff work for tips only, there are loads of people of people in Ireland on the minimum wage and don’t work in an industry where they get paid tips to top up there wages, go get yourself a better job if u need more money or work a second part time job, and another posters comment where they state that somehow because I can afford to eat out I am morally obliged to top up some strangers weeks wages, what complete bullshit
Tipping is bull shite. The meal and service would need to be exceptional
That Australian should change his stage name from 2pec to 2pay…
Always €2. I even throw one individual that’s begging the same.
If the food is up to scratch I consider tipping. Whether I do or not depends on the quality of service. If the service is above par, prompt, and the staff courteous and friendly, I tip generously, a minimum of 10%. If it’s exceptionally good and if the staff are prepared to go the extra mile, I increase the tip substantially.
Don’t be daft this is not the US yet?
Depend’s on the service bad service tip. 1 cent just to make a point without causing problems sure they get the message .
you lot on here, what a tight ungreatful bunch of miserable t w a t s every time you leave a restaurant or cafe and dont tip staff always comment to each other about you and will always remember the non tippers. as usually most people are nice and do leave something
@David Cullen: lol u pompous ass, do u think we that don’t tip really give a shite if the restaurant staff “COMMENT” about us, and what have I to be go grateful for, I went into a restaurant ordered a meal and paid for it, it is up to the owner of the restaurant to pay his/her staff,they are not my problem, they are there to serve me and get paid by the restaurant owner, I owe them absolutely NOTHING, NOT 1 CENT
Let the restaurant pay their wages.
I’ll tip if I get good service.
Usually a few euro.
Shower of tight arses !, I tip all the time if the service is good from the person serving. Waiting jobs are one of the toughtest jobs to do running around 9 hours at most and not proper breaks especially in the hotel industry. I did it many years ago and I respect anybody who works in that industry.
The reason tipping started was because the Americans always tip barman or waitress because their wages would be very basic and the tips make the wage so the harder you work the better the tip if you have a lazy waitress or barman and you are not providing a service they will let you know with the tip .
Would you like to live on the minimum wage?
have your say