Welcome to Covid-Era Irish Pubs: Please Drink Swiftly and Eat

(Bloomberg) --

Irish drinkers will need to be both hungry and quick when the nation’s pubs start reopening later this month.

A visit to the bar, long a staple of Irish social life, will feel very different after the coronavirus outbreak, according to government guidelines published late Wednesday. For now, only pubs that serve food as well as drinks will be allowed to open from June 29, while customers will face restrictions on how long they can stay.

Pubs must serve a “substantial meal” costing at least 9 euros ($10.11), while customers have to leave after 105 minutes. The bar will take contact details of the lead member of any group while pre-booking will be encouraged. All customers have to be seated, putting an end to lingering at the bar, and drinkers will have to stay at least 1 meter apart.

“These guidelines are intended to provide clarity to businesses so that they can reopen safely,” Paul Kelly, chief executive of Ireland’s tourist board, said in a statement.

About 92,000 people work in the sector in some form, which contributes about 2 billion euros to the economy a year, according to the Drinks Industry Group of Ireland.

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