LAST UPDATE | 5 Oct 2020

INDOOR DINING IN pubs and restaurants will be banned across the country under Level 3 restrictions being imposed from tomorrow.

Outdoor seating and service will be allowed outside restaurants, bars and wet pubs.

Pubs that do not serve food outside Dublin will be allowed to open but they will only be able to provide an outdoor service to a maximum of 15 people.

However, ‘wet pubs’ in Dublin will still be banned from opening unlike their counterparts in other counties.

This means that if you are having alcohol in a pub in the capital, you must still purchase food. This is currently the case in Dublin since Level 3 was introduced in the region two weeks ago.

The Cabinet is discussing the latest Covid-19 restrictions, which will be in place for the  next three weeks.

Despite a recommendation from the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) to move the country into Level 5, the Government rejected the advice.

It emerged this afternoon that Cabinet is expected to put the entire country under Level 3 restrictions. 

Level 3 has ‘additional restrictions for indoor dining’.

In Dublin, only outdoor dining permitted under Level 3.

I understand that will now be the case nationwide for pubs and restaurants

— Christina Finn (@christinafinn8) October 5, 2020

The full Cabinet is currently meeting. The Taoiseach Micheál Martin is expected to make a live public announcement on TV at 9pm this evening.

Adrian Cummins of the Restaurants Association of Ireland said Ireland is the only country in the European Union with a ban on indoor dining

“This means an economic lockdown for restaurants and hospitality businesses across Ireland,” he said, adding that 180,000 hospitality workers will lose their jobs this week.