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TÁNAISTE Leo Varadkar has told the Fine Gael parliamentary party that the government is considering advising people not to travel to Northern Ireland from the end of this week amid the worsening Covid-19 situation there.
Mr. Varadkar made the comments while discussing the government’s plans here to ease the Level 5 restrictions starting next week and return to Level 3.
He said it was unclear to what extent the hospitality can be reopened and at what time people will be allowed to leave their county or if it will be longer than Christmas week.
Mr Varadkar said that there was a pending question about Northern Ireland and whether the Government would advise against any travel there.
The Tánaiste cited the worsening of the disease situation in the North. There have been nearly 2,500 Covid-19 cases in Northern Ireland in the past seven days, including 533 new cases reported on Wednesday.
Sinn Féin said tonight that the Tánaiste’s suggestion was “ridiculous” and “shows how disconnected Leo Varadkar is from the real-life realities of people living in border communities.”
A spokesperson said: “People who live in border areas cross the border daily to work, study and care for their families and that must be able to continue safely and responsibly.”
Mr Varadkar also said that the government will have to be frank with the people that it is inevitable that, with the restrictions easing from next week, more people will contract the virus. This can mean that more people end up in the hospital and more people potentially die.
He said this could mean that the restrictions might have to be re-imposed for a shorter period than the current lockdown and that it would be possible for two or three weeks in January or February.
However, Varadkar said that while there was a significant excess of deaths in the first wave of the virus, there were little to no excess deaths in the current second wave.
On the next vaccine, Varadkar said he was now more confident than ever that 2021 will be the year the pandemic will end, that the economy will recover and that people will enjoy the freedoms they took for granted.
He told TDs and senators that people in Ireland could start getting vaccinated in the first quarter of next year.
Mr. Varadkar also told his colleagues that the opposition parties were making a “mountain out of a molehill” over the controversy over the appointment of Séamus Woulfe. He noted that since the founding of the State, more than half of the 31 people who served as attorneys general were appointed judges after their terms in government ended.
The meeting heard calls from various TDs for the reopening of pubs with Minister Patrick O’Donovan, Carlow-Kilkenny MP John Paul Phelan and Clare TD Joe Carey among those arguing that they were more controlled environments and would reduce the number of parties in House.
All three TDs also called for churches to be allowed to reopen. One attendee said: “Pints and sentences dominating the Covid debate so far.”
Varadkar said he was confident people will be able to attend mass from next week, but was less optimistic about the pubs reopening.
Later in the meeting, Mr. Varadkar said that he would not assume that Nphet would recommend reopening the hospitality sector.
He also said that anti fasterThe Covid gene tests were not as effective as its manufacturers claimed, saying that Liverpool, where it has been used for mass population testing, was missing half of its boxes.
Senators Micheál Carrigy and Garret Ahearn were also among several contributors who advocated for pubs reopening.
Cork TD David Stanton and Wexford TD Paul Kehoe said churches will need advice on how to handle the crowds that may come to Mass at Christmas. Kehoe said he knew bar and pub owners who didn’t want to open because they couldn’t control people during Christmas and New Years.
Frances Fitzgerald MEP warned against populism by easing restrictions and said the government must be honest about the consequences of the gathering of large numbers during the holiday season. Vice Minister Josepha Madigan and Representative Jennifer Carroll-MacNeill also cautioned against reopening too much and creating too many expectations around the launch of the vaccine.
Varadkar said it would be the second quarter of 2021 before the vaccine is widely spread to the population.
Former health minister Simon Harris said the government’s focus should shift from Nphet’s recommendations and restrictions to the work of the vaccine task force before launching a vaccination program next year.
Former minister Michael Ring said he did not trust the HSE to launch a vaccine given the problems that have arisen with the flu vaccine this year.
Online editors
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