Leo Varadkar says there will be a Garda presence on the border

TÁNAISTE LEO VARADKAR has said that there will be a Garda presence between counties, including along the border, as part of the travel restrictions that go into effect on St. Stephen’s Day.

As part of the new adjusted Tier 5 restrictions, individuals will not be able to travel beyond their county after midnight on December 26.

The council states that people who have already left their county can stay in another county until they return home.

Speaking on RTÉ primetime tonight, Varadkar also spoke about the problem of people circumventing the travel ban from Britain by passing through Belfast.

He was asked if gardaí would make roadblocks to prevent this from happening at border crossings like Lifford in Donegal and the M1:

I wouldn’t say barricades, but there will be a police presence and the Taoiseach will speak to the Garda Commissioner about that.

Asked if there will be gardaí on the M1 motorway, the Tánaiste said: “There will be, there will be a presence of garda between counties because we will return to a system that says that on the 26th you are supposed to stay in your county except for essential reasons.”

Earlier today, Stormont’s Health Minister expressed concern that Northern Ireland has become a “funnel” for people traveling to the Republic from Britain, after Ireland imposed a flight ban.

Speaking more widely about law enforcement, Varadkar said that Gardaí had had problems due to alcohol consumption.

“One of the issues we had to consider when the Cabinet Committee on Covid met on Monday night was compliance. One of the messages Minister McEntee mentioned was that the Gardaí, despite their best efforts, were having real problems with law enforcement, particularly in gastropubs.

“In the run-up to Christmas, people have had some alcohol, humans behave the way they do and we are aware of that and we are also aware of the ongoing problem of people drinking outside, which is concern, We are also seeing what solutions are possible. ”

Last month, the government abandoned plans to introduce fines for taking away alcohol.