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Health Minister Stephen Donnelly plans to submit proposals to Cabinet on Tuesday to ban takeout sales in pubs for the remainder of the Level 5 lockdown.
The move follows reports of binge drinking outdoors in Dublin and elsewhere over the weekend.
Donnelly is expected to inform ministers that he will introduce new regulations to ban the sale of pints and takeout cocktails as long as the country has Level 5 restrictions.
The State has been under these restrictions, the most severe in the Government’s Living with Covid-19 plan, since October and they must remain in effect until December 1 at least.
Some pubs have been selling pints and take-out cocktails, which has resulted in groups of people drinking on the street. According to licensing regulations, these beverages cannot be consumed within 100m of the facilities that sold them.
Images of groups gathering over drinks in Dublin city center over the weekend circulated widely, although there were cases in many other places as well. Donnelly’s move is seen as a way to try to deter more such incidents from occurring.
Out of reach
A Dublin innkeeper previously warned that socializing and drinking in public will increasingly get out of hand if controlled hospitality settings are not allowed to open during the Christmas period.
Alan Campbell, owner of The Bankers Bar, was responding to social media images of a large gathering on South William Street in Dublin.
Covid-19 infection rates have been dropping since Level 5 restrictions were introduced, which closed pubs and bars except for take-out services.
However, with the case numbers under control, the government is under pressure to clarify which businesses will be able to reopen when the brakes are released before Christmas.
Campbell told RTÉ Radio 1’s Today with Claire Byrne show that scenes like those shot over the weekend are worse than allowing pubs to reopen. He said his pub offers limited takeout service, but that it has been closing early to discourage people from congregating on the streets.
“We have been asking people to move and we have told them that they cannot stay around here. The problem is that people move to another area, ”he said, congratulating Gardaí on the speed with which they moved people on Saturday night.
‘Lightning crowd’
Local independent councilman Mannix Flynn said the problem was not so much the take-out trade but rather a more urgent need for innkeepers to weed out customers who drink off their premises, a situation that leads to “flash mobs.” .
“Ninety-nine percent of the people who buy alcohol in Dunnes don’t go out and drink it on the street; they wouldn’t be allowed to do that, ”Flynn said, noting that city residents and businesses were angered by the scenes of public drinking.
On Monday, as debate over the latest images continued, the Licensed Vintners Association (LVA), which represents Dublin’s pub industry, declined to comment.
Publicans have been grappling with how to respond to the pandemic and are now facing the possible loss of their most active annual trading season amid uncertainty about the coronavirus measures that will be in place for the Christmas period.
The pub sector has continued to push the message of a sensible and restricted opening for its premises.
Earlier this year, the LVA wrote to the government saying that street alcohol consumption should be banned and that it would not oppose any measure to end take-out sales.
The Vintners Federation of Ireland (VFI), which represents innkeepers outside the capital, is also interested in promoting the message of responsible trading, with a spokesperson insisting that venue owners must comply with Covid rules. .
“The figures from the guards show that the vast majority [of pubs] They are not breaking the rules, ”he added.
The VFI also seeks to ensure the safe reopening option for those companies that wish to do so.
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