Tough pub decisions at the end of closing

Taoiseach Micheál Martin warned his party that the decisions to be made at the end of the six-week confinement will be “difficult.”

Mr Martin told his colleagues that the hospitality sector “will be a problem” but said the Irish are the best in Europe in the fight against Covid-19.

There were calls from TD, including Barry Cowen and Christopher O’Sullivan, to allow pubs and restaurants to reopen.

Mr. Cowen asked for a consultation with the hospitality industry to agree on any new guidelines as needed.

He said that while the decision on whether to open cannot be carried that far, a consultation is needed to give a good chance for a safe Christmas.

At Christmas we will trust the public to celebrate, he said.

Meanwhile, the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party meeting also heard from Health Minister Stephen Donnelly, who said that no woman affected by the CervicalCheck will be left behind “by hook or by crook”.

Donnelly was responding to requests for compassion from his colleagues in the private meeting towards the women involved.

According to various sources at the meeting, Sligo TD Marc MacSharry said that banning cases by law is not a good position for the party to adopt.

“First there must be compassion,” he reportedly said.

Macsharry said labs should not be included in the court.

He said the party should address the recurrence of cancer in the same way that the issue of hepatitis C was addressed years ago.

The 50 women who, for reasons beyond their control, are outside the statute of limitations must be served by means of a letter from the Government to the president of the court to admit their cases.

He said compassion must trump any predetermined position or financial consideration this time around.

In response, Donnelly said when it comes to the statute of limitations, “no woman would be left out of the court door by hook or by crook.”

He also said that the laboratories involved in the failed diagnoses should be included in the court, which makes him an adversary, which goes against the wishes of the activists, the 221+ group.

Responding to Irish Examiner reports on Donnelly’s comments, activist Vicky Phelan said: “This is not what was communicated to Group 221+ in the Minister’s letter of 8 November last.

We were informed that if the statute of limitations is amended (for those women who are currently prohibited by statute), it would almost certainly lead to the withdrawal of the labs from the court.

Cavan TD Niamh Smyth raised the issue of north-south interconnection and FF promises to study the possibility of burying the lines.

He also raised when FF vowed to oppose an investigation into Shane O’Farrell’s death.

The Taoiseach promised to raise the interconnection issue with Energy Minister Eamon Ryan.

Junior Finance Minister Sean Fleming described his progress in his review of the 2020 elections, in which the party fell to just 37 seats in the Dáil.

Cowen said he wants answers to questions about the role of headquarters in the election campaign.

“We were on the defensive once the campaign got under way.”

Senator Eugene Murphy expressed concern about the party’s poor poll scores, while Minister Anne Rabbitte said she wants an analysis of the regional organizers’ work with each candidate during the election.

Dublin South-West TD John Lahart raised the RIC debacle, the retirement age issue, and the tripartite leaders’ debate as issues that hurt the party.

He also said that there were many gaps in the manifesto, adding that these were some of the reasons for the poor result of the match in February.