Leo Varadkar warns of a strict blockade until May in a letter to members of the Fine Gael party

Leo Varadkar has warned his Fine Gael team to prepare for a strict lockdown until May.

The Fine Gael leader said that apart from some limited exceptions, “further easing of restrictions will not be considered until late April or early May.”

The Tánaiste revealed the sad news to members of its Parliamentary Party in a private letter seen by the Irish Mirror.

The tone of the letter is consistent with what Taoiseach Micheál Martin told the Mirror in an exclusive interview two weeks ago, when he said that “major restrictions” stayed with us until the end of April.

Mr. Varadkar’s comments now make it clear that, unfortunately, the public cannot expect many rules to be relaxed until at least the beginning of May.

He said the measures to be discussed on April 5 will be relaxing the 5km rule, reopening construction, returning click-and-picking services and allowing more outdoor activities to take place.

Outdoor activity is expected to include limited return from safe outdoor sports activities.

This is understood to be because the government is becoming increasingly aware of the damage the blockade is causing to the collective mental health of the nation.

Mr. Varadkar’s letter was sent as a cover note with a copy of the Government’s new revised Covid plan, the “Way Forward” document, to the most senior members of his party.

He is urging all politicians in his Parliamentary Party to familiarize themselves with the document so that he can sell it to voters in their constituencies.

The Fine Gael boss also used the letter to admit that there had been some flaws in the government’s Covid communications.

Varadkar and other Fine Gael ministers scoffed at a Parliamentary Party meeting last week, where deputies criticized the government’s poor public relations performance.

Mr. Varadkar has responded by saying that they have a new plan that leaves no room for front-line members to no longer be “out of the picture”.

He said: “I fully accept the reasoned criticism about the communications made by some members of the Parliamentary Party last week.

“I think the plan is an opportunity to reestablish the way we communicate with the public.

“It is very clear what will happen and what will not happen in the next ten weeks.

“Communications is a job for all of us and with this plan, there is no reason for any of us to be ‘off the hook’ for the next several months.”

Elsewhere in his letter, Varadkar said the party is “grateful to the Irish people” for the effort to help suppress the virus.

There was also a special mention for health workers.

And finally, Mr. Varadkar spoke about the vaccine launch, where he said he was optimistic that we could see up to 300,000 injections per week in April.