Ireland’s pubs are finally ready to reopen, but not as we know them and major changes are expected

Irish drinkers are finally ready to reopen once again, but not as we know them.

Big parties are a thing of the past, as no more than six people from just three households can drink together.

Table service just means there will be no pints on a bar stool and the doors will close at 11.30pm, a 25-page master plan revealed.

A source said: “The industry will accept the guidelines if that is what is required to open pubs.”

The rules in the table state that the groups should be kept within a meter of each other, unless they are from the same household, the guidelines establish.

But the new rules say that a 105-minute limit is not necessary in a pub if a physical distance of two meters is “strictly maintained” between tables.

The 25-page ‘living document’ on new guidelines, seen by the Irish Mirror, emphasizes social distancing, with terms like ‘physical distancing’, ‘physical distance’ and ‘physical barriers’ mentioned 130 times.

In Section 10, which deals with pubs that do not serve food, the document states that the Department of Health has confirmed that the HPSC guide for food service businesses now also applies to “wet” pubs.

Pubs that do not serve food, as do their counterparts that do, as well as restaurants, etc., will be considered “controlled environments”.

This puts them on par with current guidelines in many ways, including:

• Two meter spacing between tables, but can be reduced to one meter if additional measures are taken
• No more than six people can be seated at a table and they must not come from more than three different households. This applies to advance bookings and walk-ins.
• Physical distance of one meter between people seated at these tables, unless they are from the same household
• Table service only and no counter service
• The number of seats should be reduced
• Separation of night bars and discos without customers on the premises after 11:30 p.m.
• All employees in customer-facing duties must wear face covers, unless a protective screen is in place
• Strict queuing system for bathrooms and limit on the number of users to guarantee physical distancing
• All pubs are asked to develop an ‘action plan’ to reopen
• The use of cash is discouraged and customers are asked to use card / contactless payments when possible.

In the midst of a recent furore over pubs keeping customer data records, the guidelines also clearly state that “businesses and services where alcoholic beverages are sold or supplied for consumption on premises must keep a record of the time and date of arrival at the premises of a single group / client and the name and phone number of the lead person in a single group / client for COVID-19 contact tracing ”.

He adds: “These records must be kept for 28 days.”

An industry source said the new rules will be a “major change,” but that bar owners will smile and put up with it just to get a chance to reopen.

But they cautioned that colleagues think there are so many restrictions that many establishments will still fail.

They added: “These guidelines will result in a major change for non-food pubs.

“It will not be easy for these pubs to implement [these rules] and remain viable.

“The industry will accept the guidelines if that is what is required to open the non-food pubs, as they will have been closed for a minimum of six months at that stage.”

However, there is still great anger among publicans as government restrictions force them to stay closed for almost six months.

The Village Inn in Slane, Co Meath served its last pint on March 14th.

Owner Wayne Harding said: “I am really upset that we are the only business in the country that is closed.

“We have been here for 40 years, we never close, we are good employers. I am quite angry because we need help and we need to be opened immediately, ”he told RTE.