The Green Party leader has insisted the country’s pubs will reopen this year.

The Government yesterday delayed Phase Four of reopening for a second time – meaning pubs that don’t serve food will not reopen until August 31^st at the earliest.

Meanwhile, the Taoiseach Micheál Martin has warned that there is no guarantee pubs will be able to return this year.

The announcement has caused dismay in the industry – with publicans warning that after a full six months of closure, many may be forced to close their doors for good.

On Newstalk Breakfast this morning, Green Party leader Eamon Ryan said public health officials have warned that the country is “on a knife-edge” in its coronavirus response.

“There is huge sympathy first of all because everyone agrees, we want to go back to normal,” he said. “We want to go back to going to matches, going to the pub or whatever.

“But we had to also heed the advice yesterday and it is a delay, pubs will reopen, but the advice was clear from NPHET, there has been a recent spike, just even in the last week.

“We are still doing quite well as a country but to protect that and to ensure we don’t have to reverse other changes that have been made the advice was strongly no, hold back for a further three weeks and monitor and measure and try and stop it going from the increase we have seen in the last week into something that grows further.

“The words of the Chief Medical Advisor yesterday to us was that it is on a knife edge and we have to be careful and the Government heeded that.”

File photo of a pint poured in Kehoes bar, 15-03-2003. Image: Haydn West/PA Archive/PA Images

He said there are no plans to keep the restriction in place long term and said the next step will “depend very much on what happens with the virus and what happens with the medical advice.”

“We will have to manage it in a way where we are reacting more to clusters to try and dampen it down when it does arise and make sure normal life keeps going as best we can,” he said.

“So, I don’t see an ongoing restriction to certain areas being likely. I think it is a more short-term phenomenon.”

Dr Ronan Glynn, Acting Chief Medical Officer, at the Department of Health in Dublin. Picture by: Sasko Lazarov/RollingNews.ie

Minister Ryan said the country is facing into a “critical three weeks” and said the best way to ensure we can move forward in September if for everyone to follow public health advice.

“Those basics, in terms of keeping ourselves safe, are actually what we need to do still in this period,” he said.

“This will change, it is not going to be in this format forever and a day but the Government felt that with the reopening of schools due, I think most people would recognise that has to be our number one priority, that has to be something we don’t want to risk in any way.

“We want to make sure we get that right, get the schools up and running. Other elements will come back. We can’t do a lockdown forever and a day. We have to be flexible.”

You can listen back to the full interview here: