Reopening Ireland (Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment): Statements
Seanad Éireann — 2020-11-26
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Joe O'Reilly (FG), Labour Panel

The safest environment I have ever been in since Covid began has been our local church. By that, I mean social distancing and the way the rules were implemented. It is important all religious practices are resumed. They have done an excellent job and the people are, by nature, compliant with those rules.
If we open any pubs, we should open all pubs. Apart from equity, from my experience in small rural towns - I am not as adept at speaking about Dublin - if every pub were open, one would have a naturally dispersed socially distanced crowd. It is not a difficult thing to achieve in that territory.
We need to begin religious services for everyone. We must open all pubs with strict rules with enforcement if they are not adhered to.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2020-11-26/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:48:50+00:00
Sitting date: 2020-11-26