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‘WET’ pubs, when allowed to reopen, face the odious choice between lower profitability and having to turn customers away.
The raft guidelines governing a possible reopening this month make it clear that drinkers will have to reserve a table in advance or face being separated twice as far from other customers.
Padraig Cribben, Executive Director of the Irish Vintners Federation, said: “The guidelines, as presented, will be onerous for our members to implement, but at this stage the publicans are desperate to open up, so they will find a way to make them work.
“We have seen restaurants and pubs serving food successfully in the last eight weeks, so the path is there for the rest of the pubs.
“There are still huge challenges for commerce, including making socially distant pubs a success. At this time, we need clarity and certainty about when our members will be allowed to open. The guidelines are only useful when we have that opening date.
“Ireland is the last country in Europe where pubs are closed. Covid cases occur in pubs, as in other sectors of society, but are resolved by closing the bar for a while. From European countries it is clear that blockades are not required throughout the sector.
“We need to learn to live with the virus. Opening pubs is part of that process. “
What the guidelines say
The guidelines say that pubs can keep tables one meter apart from each other, but only if there are strict spaces for customers who reserve ahead of time.
For those humid pubs wishing to maintain the traditional Irish nightlife culture, chairs and tables will need to be separated by six feet.
It means that pubs are less profitable if they do not want to reject customers who appear on the threshold.
People can queue for spaces to be free, but only one in a match can do so, and the others must stay socially distanced elsewhere on the street, the guidelines stipulate.
One of the more unusual rules contained in the draft document is that the “ornament or decoration of glasses (for example, cocktail umbrellas) should be minimized”.
And “it may be possible to verbally recommend drinks to customers” and, if so, “this should be done.”
The document also stipulated: “There must be minimal handling of the glassware when cleaning the glasses … and the straws must be individually wrapped.”
An industry source said the guidelines “will lead to a major change for non-food pubs.
“It will not be easy for these pubs to implement and remain viable. The industry will accept the guidelines, if that’s what it takes to open non-food pubs, as they have been closed for almost six months. “
The proposed rules, which have yet to be approved by ministers, will wreak havoc on the traditional nature of socializing in Irish pubs, with staying on the premises while drinking strictly prohibited.
Social distancing
A physical distance of two meters “must be maintained between tables,” says the draft guidelines, equivalent to six and a half feet.
“However, if this is not possible, it can be reduced to one meter in a controlled environment,” that is, a pre-booking agreement.
A maximum of six people from three households will be allowed at a table, a rule that applies to both advance reservations and walk-in customers.
If all risk mitigation requirements have been met, pre-reserved limited time slots should be established for patrons where a pub wants to reduce table spacings to one meter.
Spaces will last for a maximum of one hour and 45 minutes, before all these customers are denied more drinks and asked to leave.
Then, there will need to be an additional minimum of 15 minutes between customer groups at a table “to allow for proper cleaning and to allow customers to come and go, no mixing.”
Pre-booking and limited time slots of 105 minutes are not a requirement if the physical distance of two meters is strictly maintained, but many pubs will have a difficult time making a profit at this level of footfalls so far apart.
‘Here we go again’
Fianna Fáil TD Marc MacSharry cautioned that the draft guidelines for reopening ‘wet’ pubs was another mistake, closely followed by “wanting to know what you ate” at food outlets.
He vowed to raise the issue at the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party meeting on Wednesday, saying the release of the draft guidelines came 24 hours after the Taoiseach promised to consult with wine growers and tavern keepers to guard against another public relations disaster.
“Here we go again: we have published guidelines, draft as is, that appear to have been written by someone who has never been to a bar, much less worked at or owned one.”
He predicted there would be “surprise and concern” after it was promised in recent days that there would be careful consultation with innkeepers and winemakers to avoid repeating the row of individual receipts.
He also asked the government to change the legal instrument behind that rule, saying it was quite clear what it meant.
Mr. MacSharry, Fianna Fáil’s TD who highlighted the charge, told his own government to “stop probing” on the issue, suggesting that they were in a hole they had created themselves.
He said that regardless of efforts to divert the matter, the legal instrument, with criminal sanction, was explicit that a record of every substantial meal should be kept for “every member of a party” and “every individual person.”
He sent a copy of the SI to every member of the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party, which is already bitterly divided on the issue, and many in Fine Gael and the Greens also doubt his wisdom.
Mr. MacSharry said last night that his opinion had been “confirmed” by lead attorney Constance Cassidy after she corroborated the meaning of the instrument, while ministers had been trying to downplay and spin it.
The Taoiseach admitted on Friday that the communication of the new regulation “could have been better”, while insisting that critics “misinterpreted and misrepresented the law.”
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