Frustration over last minute extension of restrictions

Hospitality venues in Northern Ireland will not be re-opening this weekend as had originally been intended. Instead, Stormont has agreed a new set of Covid-19 restrictions that will see licensed premises remain closed to customers for another fortnight.

Ministers reached the compromise agreement last night (Thursday) after days of public and acrimonious wrangling. The current restrictions, which came into effect on October 16, were to have ended at midnight tonight.

As a result of the new measures, unlicensed premises such as cafes and coffee shops can open until 8pm from November 20 along with close contact services such as hairdressers. Sealed off-sales will also be permitted in pubs and bars from that date. Licensed premises will be able to open for business again from November 27.

Addressing the torturous discussion which led up to yesterday’s eleventh hour compromise agreement, First Minister, Arlene Foster, said that all she had been trying to do was find a way forward:

‘We need to look to the future and move on from this very difficult week for everyone in Northern Ireland watching as we struggled to make decisions,” she told BBC Radio Ulster this morning. ‘All the decisions we take in relation to medical advice is advice based on modelling – not predictions.’

Sinn Fein, however, voted against the plan and speaking yesterday, Deputy First Minister, Michelle O’Neill warned of ‘serious repercussions’ if the advice from senior doctors, who had wanted the lockdown to continue for another two weeks, was not followed:

‘The expert health advice from the Chief Medical Officer this week could not have been clearer that any move away from a two-week extension of the current interventions would result in excess deaths,’ said Ms O’Neill.

Responding to the latest restrictions on the trade, Colin Neill of Hospitality Ulster welcomed the fact that Ministers had been able to reach a consensus and said that operators would do all they could to ensure that they were able to re-open safely in two weeks’ time.

Mr Neill also reiterated the critical importance of the Christmas trading period for those in hospitality and again raised the issue of funding for the introduction of measures, such as improved ventilation, which could help slow the spread of Covid-19:

‘We await further detail on what additional finance in terms of grant support will be available over this two week period,’ he said yesterday. ‘While pubs and restaurants may be closed, the bills continue to mount on a daily basis, therefore, extra financial support is needed now to protect businesses and jobs and we hope that the NI Executive will be swift in getting this money into bank accounts.’

Speaking to LCN this morning, Claire Hunter, joint proprietor at the Marine Hotel in Ballycastle, said that she had ‘very much been anticipating getting open this weekend’:

‘We had great room bookings and great restaurant bookings for the weekend,’ she said. ‘We really did think that they might open hotels but keep the pubs closed.’

Claire estimated her losses for this weekend at around £6,500 and indicated that her reception staff were busy contacting those customers that had been booked to visit:

‘It’s been very frustrating,’ she said. ‘The guests don’t understand that it’s nothing to do with us, they are asking how is it that we can’t know. Most of them are OK about it, but it’s putting our reception staff in a very awkward position and it’s work that shouldn’t have to be done.’

Claire added that the focus at the Marine was now on the Christmas entertainment programme. Entertainers May McFetridge and Titty Von Tramp have both been booked to appear at the seafront hotel this year and the refurbished ballroom will be used to provide safe, socially-distanced dining.

‘We are pushing ahead with the Christmas programme because we just can’t afford to lose momentum,’ added Claire.