Publicans claim they are being used as 'messaging tool' by government
Mistakes Being Pubs Of The Ceo Of General Worried Of For Public Vintners Padraig Blamed Ireland, The The Federation Is Cribben, Are
The Vintners Federation of Ireland says if some pubs don't reopen next Monday as part of Phase 4 they may never reopen.
Pubs have been closed for 140 days and any further extension to the closure will mean many will go out of business, they said.
Yesterday, 53 new cases of the virus were confirmed with a five day average of 47.
There are fears the increase in cases over the last week could stop Phase 4 going ahead.
CEO of the Vintners Federation of Ireland, Padraig Cribben, is worried pubs are being blamed for the mistakes of the general public.
“Our members feel the Government is using the trade as a convenient ‘messaging tool’ to capture public attention," he said.
"As the Taoiseach has stated on several occasions, keeping pubs shut is designed to send a strong message to the public about avoiding complacency. This approach is highly disrespectful to publicans, their families and the 25,000 staff anxiously waiting to find out if they have a job to go back to next Monday.
"Our message to the Taoiseach is simple: open the pubs and allow our members prove they can implement the reopening guidelines.”