Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
LAST UPDATE | 18 Jan 2022
TÁNAISTE LEO VARADKAR has told a meeting of the Fine Gael parliamentary party that he hopes all restrictions, including the domestic use of Covid passes for pubs and restaurants, will be lifted by the end of March.
He expressed his wish to set 31 March as a deadline to end almost all legal restrictions.
Varadkar noted we may have to keep some measures another while longer such as mask wearing in crowded places, staying at home when symptomatic and Covid passes for international travel.
Emergency Covid legislation which underpins the restrictions falls on 31 March.
Earlier today, Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said that while there is a provision to extend the emergency powers by three months, the health minister has said there is a need to relinquish the emergency powers.
“I think it’s likely that that measures will come in before the end of the month,” Donnelly told RTÉ’s News at One.
Donnelly said he hopes the legislation will lapse at the end of March, stating that it is possible mask wearing on public transport and in shops will also fall by April.
“These are emergency powers. It’s emergency legislation, there’s a sunset clause, which is really important,” he said adding that the hope is come the end of March the emergency powers will no longer be needed.
The health minister also raised the possibility of some restrictions on hospitality and live events being eased by this weekend.
Donnelly said he believes government will decide to move ahead with the easing of some the restrictions before the end of the month.
Speaking about the progress made, the Tánaiste said the fact that Omicron is less severe and that a high level of immunity has built up due to vaccination and infection.
This meant that hospitalisations, ICU numbers and deaths did not increase to the same extent as in previous waves, he said.
He said this gives a strong degree of confidence that we can ease restrictions quickly over the next few weeks.
He said that by and large, the government has got most things right which he said is evident from case fatality ratios, the number of deaths per million in population, the number of people in hospital per million, the percentage of people vaccinated and the impact on our economy and public finances.
Ireland has performed very well by European and world standards by almost every measure, he told members, later speaking about how difficult Ireland’s restrictions have been on social life particularly for young adults and single people.
Varadkar said we must continue to be prepared for a new severe variant of concern later in the year and that means being prepared for another round of vaccination if that’s necessary, as well being able to switch back on test/trace/isolate programmes. T
He also mentioned investing in improved air quality in buildings and continued increases in hospital bed capacity and ICUs.
Easing restrictions
Those working in hospitality have called for the 8pm closing time to be scrapped this week, rather than waiting for easing the rules on 30 January.
Donnelly said if the advice from the public health experts allows for the easing of restrictions, the government will “move as quickly as we can”.
“We have to ease the burden on people,” he said, adding that those in hospitality and the live events sector have suffered a lot under the current rules.
“Anything we can do to ease the burden quickly will be looked at seriously by government,” he said.
He said restrictions will be ended “the moment the public health rationale goes for them”.
Referencing the Six Nations matches, he said there is nothing he would like more than to hear the roar of 50,000 people at the start of February.
“These things are being looked at at the moment and again, we’ve just got to get the balance right… what people are saying to me is yes, yes of course we need to move forward and we need to put Omicron behind us. But don’t be foolish, don’t move too quickly, in a way that causes risks,” he said.
Donnelly told RTÉ’s News at One that the numbers in ICU have remained steady, adding that they now believe the country has moved beyond the peak of the Omicron infection.
Conversations are currently underway across government to lift restrictions as soon as possible, he said.
Return to normal life
“What I want to see, what we all want to see, is the quickest possible return to normal life and the the lifting of all of the restrictions where possible,” he added, stating that it has to be done in a safe and balanced way.
While it had been expected that Cabinet would not make a decision on easing restrictions until next week, government sources have said a Friday Cabinet meeting is “not out of the question”.
An an early easing of restrictions before the end of the month was not being ruled out as of last night, amid calls from those in hospitality calling for a rule change before February.
Separately, Minister of State for Public Procurement and e-Government Ossian Smyth said there are no plans for the use of the Digital Covid Certificate updated with booster shot information to be used domestically in areas such as hospitality.
He said he does not want to see the passes being needed on an ongoing basis for areas such as hospitality.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Today with Claire Byrne programme, Covid passes will still be needed for international travel, stating that it’s important that all Covid certificates are updated by 1 February, as that is the date when new EU travel rules come into force.
This story provides a timely counterpoint to the recent bus driver v cyclist video.
I travel on the bus a lot and, although of course I encounter some drivers who are having a bad day (or in some cases are consistently rude), most of them are very good at their job. Good bus drivers are public servants in the best sense of the term. Their hard work makes the city better for the rest of us. They receive some shocking abuse from difficult passengers, so I think it’s important to acknowledge their hard work by thanking them, even when they’re a bit grumpy.
Dublin Bus drivers tend to be bang on. A number of times I haven’t had enough change or credit on my Leap card and they’ve nodded me on to go ahead.
Don’t suppose that antagonising w@nker with the camera on his helmet would post anything positive like this on YouTube… Fair play…
The bus driver veered dangerous into the cycle lane, putting that cyclist’s life in danger.
It was a bus lane, not a cycle lane…
There was a cycle lane beside the bus lane…
So if someone drives in the bus lane the bus driver is entitled to push you off the road?
Anyone that cycles up the inside of a bus which is approaching a stop is an idiot that probably won’t survive much longer.
That was a cycle lane Catherine. A cycle lane with a solid white line which means that cars/busses are not permitted to drive in it. The bus driver veered into this lane wrecklessly.
However, regardless of whether it was a bus lane or not, do you suggest that busses are allowed to veer into other vehicles and push them off the road simply because they happen to be in the bus lane? By that logic, any pedestrian crossing the road (not at a designated crosswalk) is a legitimate target for any vehicle on the road?
Colin,
Who has the right of way won’t really matter if you get hit by a bus. The cyclist in that video with the camera on his helmet cycled up the inside of a bus that was pulling in to a stop. That makes him a complete idiot who’s stupid videos won’t help him when he is under a double decker. A lot of cyclists need to cop on to themselves and use a bit of common sense instead of screaming about their rights all the time, they are the least law abiding of all road users also.
I may have the context incorrect as I was referring to the incident in this article – not the previous one
Loop – the cyclist was travelling at a constant speed in his own lane as he was fully entitled to do. the bus veered into his lane without any signal (way before the bus stop which is about another 100/200 meters along that road at the junction), the cyclist applied his brakes and avoided an RTA. I dont see what is idiotic about what the cyclist did. If youre driving in the left lane in your car along the quays and the traffic is slower in the right lane are you saying that the traffic in the left lane needs to stop and not progress in their own lane until the right lane starts moving again??
Indeed youre dead right, who has the right of way won’t really matter if you get hit by a bus. Thankfully that lad wasnt hit by the bus.
Loop at least go watch the video before you comment, the bus stop is beyond where that incident happened. There is no solid white line on the cycle lane where the bus stop is to let the divers pull into it. The driver crossed a solid white line which is a road traffic offence. Whatever about the behaviour of the cyclist thats is a simple fact. If you know that section of the quays its wide enough for everyone to get along.
On top of that buses, cars bikes cant just change lane as they please. They need to make sure that lane is clear to move into or across thats just common sense not to mention the law.
That video was also edited to make it look juicier I’ll bet.
I hope this cyclist makes a full recovery. This story proves the point that there are far more good people around than bad. As for the idiot in the car that deliberately caused this accident watch out! KARMA is following you!
Karma in the name of Dublin bus video surveillance .
I cycle around the city everyday and find bus drivers very courteous.
They have the sense to realise that I won’t hold them up and will in fact get through the traffic quicker than they will.
I’m sure there are some bad motorists around but luckily I haven’t encountered them yet.
I wonder was teh car turning left onto the Quays from Marlbourgh St, right in front of the new bridge? Exact same thing happened to me a few week ago, hit by a bar on my back wheel. No injuries but repairs required for the bike The driver then had the audacity to lay on their horn after they hit me, as if to say I was to blame for having the right of way on the quays!
As a seasoned cyclist myself, I have to say it’s only since that video surfaced that all bus drivers have become more courteous and actually acknowledge cyclists. I do note that not all bus drivers drove badly prior to the video.
In my experience the worst drivers on the road are not bus drivers, but taxi drivers, followed closely by mother’s dropping their children off at school. Both think they own the road, fail to indicate, drive in cycle lanes and speed up when turning a corner, again while failing to indicate. They should be forced to spend a week cycling along their usual roads and see what it’s like when erratic drivers like them behave in such a fashion. I have no doubt there would be fewer accidents on our roads.
As a regular cyclist I find bus drivers are more aware of cyclists than any other drivers on the roads in dublin and people should never let one isolated event darken their opinion on them as a whole.
I’m a little late to this article, but I’m extremely heartened by it.
To the author. The brevity of this piece was fantastic. I loved every bit of it. It is perfect.
I’m not going to engage in the subject matter, that’s up above this post and beneath your article.
But this article, is a masterclass in how to get to the point. Definitely one of the best I’ve ever seen on here.
I’ve found the bus drivers in Dublin are psychos for the most part – they speed around and give no space to cyclists- especially at junctions. Westmoreland Street is a nightmare to navigate- a bus crushing zone.
There is so much glass in the cycle lanes at the moment as well you end up having to pull into the road which is seriously dangerous. They really need to get pubs to clean up at the end of the night. The cleaning trucks don’t get out often for a few days to an area.
These cyclist versus motorists stories are so tiresome. Everyone getting excited just needs to relax! I cycle to work every day in Dublin city centre. Nobody has ever come close to running me over in their car, nor have I ever harmed a pedestrian.
Happy you are ok. Nasty evil person who ran you off the road.
I agree and disagree.
I was on the bus with my 9 year old son. We sat upstairs on the bus. When getting my shopping to get off the bus. My son decided to head to stairs. I was trying to catch him by the arm, when the bus jammed on brakes and he toppled head over heels down the stairs. I ran down stairs needless to say with a fright.
However not one person got up off their fuc8king seat to see if my child was ok. The bus driver didnt even get out of his seat. I got off the bus and the driver took off. Didnt even ask if my son was ok.
For every good story there is ten bad ones.
But it is same world over.
So your shopping is of more importance to you than your son??the driver obviously braked for a reason.people on the bus probably thought the same as a lot of people reading your comment that you should be looking after your child instead of your shopping.also you could have waited until the bus was stopped at the stop then let your son run away down the stairs!!!
Happy to finally see good comments about Busdrivers :)
Bus W@n*ers
have your say