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The decision to separate “wet” pubs and gourmet pubs will be a political decision that is not supported by any evidence, said the Licensed Vintners Association (LVA).
According to the representative body, there is no evidence that ‘wet’ pubs carry a higher risk than other hospitality venues such as restaurants or gastropubs.
He said any risk is the same for all places where alcohol is served and Gardaí has the same powers to shut down any place that does not comply with regulations.
Donall O’Keeffe, executive director of the LVA, said the same regulations apply in “wet” pubs, such as time limits, social distancing requirements and mandatory table service.
“The government cannot hide behind Nphet now if it decides to select the ‘wet’ pubs and keep them closed,” O’Keeffe said.
“Now it will be quite clear that this is a decision that is made only by members of Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Green Party and they will have to make that decision.”
O’Keeffe said the option of allowing fine dining restaurants and pubs to negotiate while keeping “wet” pubs closed is one that individual TDs in Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Green Party can expect to pay a political price.
Meanwhile, the owners of several reputable restaurants in Dublin are asking the Government for clear and concise guidelines as soon as possible so that they can open safely.
Sally Ann Clarke of L’Ecrivain told RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland that they have full reservations as of December 1, the date by which the level 5 restrictions were due to be lifted.
“We need to know as soon as possible so that we can inform the suppliers and reschedule the reservations if we cannot open the first one.”
Damien Allen, owner of The Orange Goat restaurant in Ballsbridge, echoed the request for clear and concise guidelines.
It also opened a second location in Killester during the pandemic that has focused on takeout while renovations were completed.
The change in the commercial market meant that there were more favorable rates that prompted him to open the second point of sale.
“We had tremendous support from the locals and we remain optimistic that people are staying indoors.”
Ms. Clarke noted that earlier this year, when restaurant restrictions were first introduced, customers knew what they could and couldn’t do “and it worked very well. People were happy with it. ”
There were partitions between tables and tiered tables.
“People felt safe and it was good to be outside.”
In response to the suggestion that the amount of time people could spend in a restaurant could be reduced to one hour (from one hour and 45 minutes), Ms Clarke said that would not be feasible at L’Ecrivain as it is not It was a casual dining space. .
Allen said it would be very difficult to “make it work” with fewer than 15 customers in his restaurant.
Under Covid restrictions, his restaurant in Ballsbridge could seat 20 people at any one time and the Killester facility could seat 30.
Ms. Clarke said that restaurants were good at policing guidelines and that the public understood that they could not move as they had previously.
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