As a result of Covid-19 pubs in Dublin were closed for three weeks. That was forty-five weeks ago and they have not opened since.
When Covid started the message was “Flatten the Curve”. Come June the curve was flattened with cases barely above single-figures and the death rate within statistical noise of zero, the message became “next two weeks are critical”. 10th August was announced as the new opening date and then rowed back on. In September it was “next 10 days” with guidelines on how to reopen coming “shortly”, and then in October “six weeks to save Christmas”. With this six weeks almost over the claim was Ireland’s precarious position with a looming third wave deadlier than the last, although two days later it was a very significant fall in infections.
The problem is this squandered a lot of public good-will so by the time Christmas came buy-in for restraint was simply not there, and as a result the Irish infection rates basically went vertical. Rules regarding watering holes were widely flouted which is not surprising since a lot of people regarded the continuous closure as just an anti-pub agenda. Looking at pictures published by the Garda some of the “shebeens” are better kitted out than a lot of the legitimate pubs I visited pre-Covid.
This is right up there with 1920’s New York speakeasies. Many legitimate pubs that were open as restaurants have also been pulled aside for bending the rules regarding meals and time limits, but in many cases this is because they actually have very little to lose.
Back in November 2020 my guess was that pubs would remain closed for a total of 18 months, a total that I now suspect might be an underestimate, and that was assuming they somehow manage to survive that long at all. Owner-occupied ones should generally be alright but wrangles over unpaid rent is going to see a lot of the tenanted ones go out of business.