Pubs give a glimmer of hope to reopen as gardaí has ​​more police powers

The pubs have been given a ray of hope that they will be able to reopen when the Gardaí have more powers to guard them.

Justice Minister Helen McEntee has said that new laws giving gardaí the authority to close pubs for up to a month will help the country return to a more open society and pave the way to reopen ‘wet pubs’.

Gardaí has ​​inspected thousands of venues since the pubs that serve food opened in June and has found 185 possible violations of Covid guidelines so far. However, they have limited powers to act.

In all cases, gardaí found customers who consumed alcohol, but there was no evidence that food was also consumed or evidence of receipts to show that food had been sold.

The emergency bill debated in the Dáil last night will allow the gardaí to enter pubs to inspect them. A garda superintendent will have the power to immediately shut down a location for the remainder of the day if it is found to be in violation of Covid-19 regulations.

If a pub continues to violate the guidelines, gardaí can also request a temporary closure order to close the premises for three days. Businesses that repeatedly fail to abide by the rules will see the shutdown order extended for up to 30 days.

Ms McEntee told the Dáil: “The vast majority of people and businesses in Ireland have complied with public health restrictions over the past six difficult months because they understand that doing so is the safest way, not only to keep us all safe but also about helping us return as quickly as possible to the more open society that we have enjoyed but can no longer take for granted.

“I am firmly convinced that this bill will help us move on that path.”

However, Labor TD Brendan Howlin described as “very dangerous” the fact that “we really don’t know what should be specifically criminalized now or in the future” as part of the bill.

“How can we pass legislation that creates criminal offenses that we do not know about and that can be renewed or changed tomorrow with new regulations?” I ask.

Tánaiste Leo Varadkar said last night at the Fine Gael parliamentary party meeting that he does not know why Ireland should be the only country with pubs that are not open, and stressed that 3,200 tavern keepers should be given the opportunity to demonstrate that they can open and operate while they observe social distancing. rules.

He told his colleagues that there must be a change in the way affairs are handled, again noting that pubs and theaters are fully open elsewhere in Europe.

“Leo has emphasized the point that Ireland is an outlier and is eager to see pubs and theaters return to some sense of normalcy when possible,” said a Fine Gael source.