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Justice Minister Helen McEntee has said that new legislation giving more powers to the Gardaí will pave the way for the reopening of pubs that do not serve food.
The new powers, to be discussed in the Dáil upon his return today, will provide a roadmap for the future opening of all pubs, Ms McEntee said, as they will give further guidance to gardaí and ensure compliance with the measures. .
These measures include social distancing, wearing visors, table service, and ensuring that there is a lead person in a group to trace contacts.
Speaking on RTÉ Radio’s Today with Claire Byrne program, the Minister said that the new legislation would allow so-called “wet pubs” to prepare and plan for a future reopening.
The government is studying how to reopen all pubs safely and will launch a new roadmap on September 13 to guide the people, he said. It will tell them what is required of them and what is expected.
The minister said that her family had owned a pub for many years and that she had worked in pubs as a student, so she knew the industry and that “the vast majority are doing a fantastic job.”
Ms McEntee said she would like to see the rest of the pubs reopen and noted that Ireland is an outlier in Europe in this regard. Publicans deserve clarity, he said.
He spoke as a group of rural independent TDs launched a searing attack on the Government for “persecuting” rural publicans.
The six members of the group used a media event on the new Garda enforcement legislation to express their anger at the government’s decision to delay the reopening of wet bars.
Closing powers
Group leader Mattie McGrath accused the coalition Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Green Party of continuing to persecute rural publicans with new legislation that will allow gardaí to force the temporary closure of pubs that do not comply with Covid-19 regulations. .
He said the situation had gone beyond critical and pointed to a large grassroots protest involving publicans from Tipperary and elsewhere who would march on Leinster House next Tuesday.
In a passionate plea, Kerry TD Danny Healy-Rae, who is himself a bartender, said the “man on the hill” in rural Ireland had no outlet to meet any of his friends or community.
“The further you go, the less chance there is for the men on the hill to meet up at the local pub. Many of Kerry’s country pubs, many of them will never reopen.
“They are seriously under pressure for money. They don’t have it. To think that these crumbs [the Government is] offer that will be fine. That’s not cool guys. “
He added: “There are people crying in pain trying to see surgeons and they cannot get an appointment. There are people who go blind and cannot remove their cataracts. There are so many things wrong in the country and that is what we are debating, criminalizing and penalizing and victimizing publicans. For my part, I will give them hell for the minutes I have in the Dáil. “
All the TDs referred to hundreds of rural pubs that never reopened due to the prolonged closure and what they said was the innate injustice of a situation where crowds were allowed into city pubs serving food, while that country pubs that never had more than a handful of patrons were still closed.
“Rural Ireland is not the problem. You guys in Dublin are the problem, ”said Limerick TD Richard O’Donovan.
He said only four pubs in all of East Limerick were currently open. “The pub is the latest in rural Ireland. We have lost the banks and the post office and the shops and the banks. The pub was the last outlet and now they are taking it away ”, he argued.
Michael Collins from Cork South West accused the government of having an agenda to close rural pubs. Carol Nolan (Offaly) said the bill conveyed the impression that publicans were irresponsible and required criminal penalties. “I think this is wrong,” he said.
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