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One of Dublin’s largest restaurant groups has threatened the government with legal action if it extends coronavirus restrictions on pubs and restaurants in the capital beyond October 10.
The Lawyers for Press Up group, which employs 1,800 people in five hotels, 12 bars, 27 restaurants and two cinemas, has written to the government saying that Health Minister Stephen Donnelly has not published “any empirical, objective and verifiable evidence. “to support the closures.
The group has said that if restrictions are extended, “it will be left with no alternative; but that it interposes procedures regarding the laws related to the operation of its premises as a last resort ”.
The predominantly Dublin-based hotel business, controlled by businessman Paddy McKillen jnr, has given the government until next Tuesday to notify whether it intends to extend the restrictions or whether it will make a legal claim that the restrictions are unconstitutional.
The company’s lawyers have sent the warning in a letter to the Ministers of Health, Justice and Finance, the Attorney General and the Office of the State Attorney General.
The group also claims that Mr. Donnelly has “unlawfully delegated or otherwise abdicated responsibility to third parties, in particular to members of the National Public Health Emergency Team.”
Increase in infections
In response to rising virus infections, the Government moved Dublin to Level 3 restrictions last month, limiting restaurants and food bars to alfresco dining only, delaying the opening of drinks-only pubs, closing cinemas and restricting hotels to residents only.
Press Up’s bar, restaurants and hotels include Angelina’s Bison Bar, Elephant & Castle, The Stella Theater, Peruke & Periwig, The Workman’s Club, and The Dean and The Devlin hotels.
The group’s lawyers say the HSE has not notified them of any outbreaks of the virus at any of its facilities and has asked Mr. Donnelly to release evidence to justify the restrictions.
He has questioned the lack of debate in the Oireachtas about the measures and has criticized the government for not proposing “alternative safeguards” that minimize the spread of the disease and allow companies to operate or allow those alternative measures to be debated in parliament.
“The laws bypassed the Oireachtas and have not been the subject of any debate or reasoned scrutiny by the elected members of the Oireachtas. The absence of a real debate on the content of what from any point of view are radical laws is a point of special concern, ”said the lawyers.
The group argues that “the lack of debate undermines social solidarity with the proposed measures undermining their effectiveness.”
Defendant
Since the initial closure in March, the group said that it has incurred very significant losses due to the closure of premises and that the group has financial obligations with suppliers, lenders, lessors, employees and the Treasury and no longer benefits from a loan moratorium .
“The laws passed by Donnelly are not accompanied by any provision to compensate our clients for having to deny public access to their facilities,” say the lawyers for Press Up.
“This is a fundamental property right of our clients related to the operation of bars and restaurants. The new laws, if extended for an extended period, could ultimately threaten the financial viability of our clients and their respective businesses. “
The group has already started legal proceedings due to the financial impact of the coronavirus restrictions. He has sued the RSA insurer for non-payment of business interruption insurance.
McKillen’s father, also Paddy, a shareholder in the group, won a high-profile legal action against the state after the financial crisis to prevent his loans from being transferred to the National Asset Management Agency, which was created to purge the banks. of most delinquent real estate loans.
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