“This was out of the blue, this was a shock to our industry.”
As Dublin-based publicans, restauranteurs and business owners are left anxiously waiting for a decision to be made by the Government regarding the implementation of tighter restrictions in Dublin, the CEO of the Restaurants Association of Ireland has spoken out about how the news was made public and what ramifications moving Dublin to Level 3 of the Living With Covid procedures will have.
Adrian Cummins spoke to Newstalk Breakfast on Friday morning, informing listeners that he believes the industry will not survive if additional restrictions – such as a ban on indoor dining for the next few weeks – will be put in place:
“This was out of the blue, this was a shock to our industry. The way that we received the information was through the media last night, and we’ve had no prior consultation with the Government with regard to what these restrictions will look like.
“Effectively our industry is reeling from this news at the moment. If the Cabinet sign off on this recommendation from NPHET, effectively our industry – hospitality – will go into lockdown as of midnight tonight if media reports are correct.
“This is an industry that has done the right thing, we’re regulated, we’ve regulated and inspected environments, and the data shows that we’re not the problem, the problem is in households.”
“The facts are the facts. The Government seem to be starting at the bottom of the list and working its way up to the very, very top. And our industry, about 50,000 people will lose their jobs this evening if the Cabinet go ahead with this decision.
“Outdoor dining is not viable for our industry, we’ve tried it, we’ve done it during the last lockdown in April. Many, many small businesses will not recover from this announcement”.
The final decision on Dublin’s new restrictions is set to be made by Cabinet this afternoon, following a sub-committee meeting this morning.
