Taoiseach confirms 8pm curfew for bars and restaurants from Sunday

Taoiseach Micheál Martin has confirmed an 8pm curfew on the hospitality sector will be imposed from Sunday, December 19.

The Cabinet met today to discuss the National Public Health Emergency Team's recommendations for a 5pm curfew in an effort to reduce the spread of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus. Ministers agreed upon a 8pm closing time for pubs and restaurants that would come into effect from Sunday, December 19. This curfew does not extend to takeaways or hospitality delivery services. The number of people attending sporting and live events have also been reduced with indoor events limited to 50% capacity or a reduction of 1,000 people. While outdoor events will also be impacted by the new restrictions, with capacity limited to 50% or 5,000 attendees. The 8pm restrictions will not impact weddings, they will be allowed to finish at midnight. However, wedding guest capacity has been reduced down to a max capacity of 100. https://twitter.com/rtenews/status/1471904041353502725   Speaking at an address to the nation on Friday, December 17, Taoiseach Martin expressed serious concern about the "explosion" of Covid across Europe. Echoing the views shared by other leaders he added, "the level of concern for what's coming is at the highest that I have seen." The transmissibility of omicron was of huge concern to Martin, who cited studies that described it as more transmissible than the Delta variant. READ ON: "€40,000 of cancelled bookings so far this month" Dublin hotel manager speaks of difficult Christmas period