Will you go for a pint when restrictions are lifted?

Heard tonight our local pub is open, but no food being served, front door locked, just use the back entrance!!!
 
having to order a 9 euro meal was ridiculous requirement anyway therefore it is understandable that some are not bothering with it. It was an arbitrary recommendation anyway which Tony Holohan had some sort of attachment to, they are not bothering with that in NI even though they followed Leo's lead to reopen the pubs now. Once the important conditions are adhered to, social distancing and not drinking to excess then everything should be ok. A sort of puritanism has taken with hold with some which has nothing to do with coronavirus
 
I was looking at a piece on TV yesterday where Princess Street in Cork had pedestrianised the street and filled it with outdoor tables and chairs so that the local restaurants and pubs could serve customers outdoors rather than indoors. Great idea.

However it showed a couple of restaurants where they were serving cups of coffee to tables full of people. The servers in the restaurants were not wearing masks. They were leaning across the tables when placing the cups within a foot or so of their customers. Do staff not have to wear masks in restaurants?

Another thing I saw were staff wearing face visors but no masks when serving food. I would have thought that someone sneezing when wearing a face visor would send the droplets down the visor and out the bottom..........not great if holding a plate or a tray of pints.....
 
@IsleOfMan you are never going to get 100percent compliance with every single requirement when dealing with the public. You have to remember that these businesses were closed for 3months, no revenue, therefore now that they have customers back buying they are hardly going to be didactic and overly censoring with customers not following the recommendations 100percent. The customer will just go to another business that does not censor them, it's not like accessing public services or transport where the customer has to comply there is no alternative.
As for staff members, remember they have to work, try doing physically demanding jobs with both a mask and a visor in this muggy weather, they are not health workers and probably close to the minimum wage. In any case it is either mask or visor they are not working in a hospital. Some people that are overly critical of staff have never done work like that themselves.
 
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4 of us out for a pint last night pub looked impressive - no bar seating but stools provided in nooks with tables and shelves for placing drinks and food.
Bar itself cocooned by perspex , staff not wearing masks.
Impressive menu with goujons and chips & prawns available at €9 and more substantial meals at ,€13.
Social distancing adhered too but time limit of 105 minutes roundly ignored but not by our party.
Relaxing night out after initial nervous start .
 
I see the garda conducted checks last week and reported that ,horror of horrors, some were not serving food. They will be recommending that these should not get their liquor licence renewed in September. Is this not completely over the top and possibly illegal anyway to refuse a liquor licence because a "guideline" was possibly not complied with. Before this a liquor licence would only not be renewed if their were gross multiple breaches of the laws such as open after hours, serving minors, facilitating drug use, or frequent fighting and violence on premises.
 
I see the garda conducted checks last week and reported that ,horror of horrors, some were not serving food. They will be recommending that these should not get their liquor licence renewed in September. Is this not completely over the top and possibly illegal anyway to refuse a liquor licence because a "guideline" was possibly not complied with. Before this a liquor licence would only not be renewed if their were gross multiple breaches of the laws such as open after hours, serving minors, facilitating drug use, or frequent fighting and violence on premises.

Maybe this will be weighed in the balance along with any other infractions clocked up ... chances are if they are ignoring this 'guideline', they may be a bit laissez faire about some other regs.
 
Is this not completely over the top and possibly illegal anyway to refuse a liquor licence because a "guideline" was possibly not complied with.

There's objecting and there's refusing. It's the courts that renew licenses, anyone who chooses can submit an objection. All renewals are notified to the local Garda Super who also gets to weigh in. The manner in which the premises is run is a consideration, the courts could decide that any pub operating in breach of official guidance during a pandemic is behaving irresponsibly, and refuse the renewal.
 
After not having a drink since January or February this year had a couple of glasses of red wine with food and family earlier and I'm bulling for a few pints.
All the pubs around are still dark. It's terrible.
 
I'm bulling for a few pints.
All the pubs around are still dark. It's terrible.

But this is the "new normal" , a few pints sitting at the bar with nobody in particular is now forbidden. Im exaggerating of course the restrictions are primarily there to contain the virus but there seems to be a puritanism and agenda hidden behind all this to kill off some of our pub culture. For example the hardline taken by the authorities with regards to the 9euro meal even though this has nothing to do with virus spread.
 
But this is the "new normal" , a few pints sitting at the bar with nobody in particular is now forbidden. Im exaggerating of course the restrictions are primarily there to contain the virus but there seems to be a puritanism and agenda hidden behind all this to kill off some of our pub culture. For example the hardline taken by the authorities with regards to the 9euro meal even though this has nothing to do with virus spread.

I think you are reading too much into it... the political parties pushing this are also pushing for minimum unit pricing which has the clear agenda of favouring pubs over supermarkets.
The 9 euro meal has everything to do with pubs operatin as food establishments, which is what is permitted in the current phase.
Probably they should have just kept the pubs shut, but the 9 euro meal was actually a gesture to pubs so that they could operate some of their business at least. To turn it into some sort of attack on pubs when it was actually a 'victory' for them is rewriting history.
 
It is expected that the Government will defer the wider reopening of pubs until August 10 as part of Phase 5 lockdown exit. Pubs that did not serve food, or 'wet pubs' were marked for reopening on July 20.
The expected decision comes against the backdrop of rising Covid-19 cases.

[broken link removed]
 
Information from Minister for Health Simon Harris Stephen Donnelly on the delay in opening of pubs:
When asked why pubs that don’t serve food should stay closed because of this, Donnelly said that NPHET looked at the international evidence, which showed that when restaurants opened and public health guidelines are followed, “it hasn’t led to an increase in cases”.
But according to international evidence analysed by NPHET, opening pubs and clubs has led to a “serious rise” in cases.
When asked the difference between pubs who serve food, which are allowed to open now, and pubs that don’t, which won’t be allowed to open until 10 August at the earliest, Donnelly said the Acting Chief Medical Officer Ronan Glynn was asked about this issue:
From a disease perspective, they’re not saying it’s restaurants and gastro-pubs, they’re saying it’s restaurants. And if the pubs can act as restaurants then they’re restaurants.

 
Is there anything to stop pubs from opening with a "food" offer. A slice of toast, for 9 Euros, comes with two free pints.
Does the legislation specify food type?
 
Is there anything to stop pubs from opening with a "food" offer. A slice of toast, for 9 Euros, comes with two free pints.
Does the legislation specify food type?

I think it mentions something to the effect that it must be a substantial meal, such as would be eaten for lunch or dinner.
This is a carry over from earlier licensing legislation.
 
Can a pub just start selling food if they never have before. Would they need to be inspected first?

They have to register with the HSE in advance and be able to satisfy their inspectors in relation to compliance with food safety regs including food prep and storage areas, staff changing and washing facilities, etc.. Not something they can do overnight or without considerable expense.
 
Can a pub just start selling food if they never have before. Would they need to be inspected first?

I believe they would if they are preparing the food there.
However I've seen that Harry Byrnes in D3 have a mobile pizza van (it's actually an old fire brigade engine) in their carpark serving food.
Presumably the van was previously ok'd for serving food.
Possibly a pub could partner with a local pizza delivery firm.
 
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