A Long Dry Summer

 » Bars ‘cannot reopen before vaccine is found’  » Decision ‘nightmare scenario’ claim chiefs

- Neil Leslie

Ireland’s pubs face being wiped out by COVID-19 after Health Minister Simon Harris warned they may not reopen fully until a vaccine is found.

The extended ban was branded the “nightmare scenario” by bar chiefs yesterday.

It would be a hammer blow to the billion-euro industry affecting some of the most famous watering holes in the country.

It would also leave thousands of staff permanently out of work.

Up to 50,000 pub workers were temporarily laid off when the shutters came down on March 16 at 7,000 bars.

A wait for a vaccine could mean they would not open again until 2021.

The devastating scenario was painted by Simon Harris yesterday.

He told the Sunday Independent he could not see how Ireland’s pubs could reopen fully until a vaccine or treatment is found.

He ruled out large gatherings in the country for the foreseeable future with little hope of bars being open again this summer.

He said: “What’s not going to come back quickly are scenarios in which we can’t safely socially distance.

“So I can’t see how people can be in packed pubs again as long as this virus is still with us and we don’t have a vaccine or an effective treatment.”

The Licensed Vintners Association which represents Dublin publicans warned it will put many out of business for good.

Chief Donall O’Keeffe said: “That is the absolute nightmare scenario for the entire pub sector.