The Government has ignored the science on indoor dining, according to the umbrella group representing the restaurant industry. The Restaurant Association of Ireland (RAI) has also repeated a threat to legally challenge the decision not to allow all standalone restaurants and gastropubs to re-open from next week while giving hotels the green light to resume indoor dining. Mr Cummins said there “is no difference between a hotel dining room and a restaurant or a gastropub”. He said the re-opening of outdoor dining spaces was a step in the right direction but that outdoor dining was always supposed to serve as an additional space to compensate for the loss of indoor dining spaces as a result of social distancing rules. “Outdoor dining was never meant to replace indoor dining and in any event only around 20 per cent our members will be able to offer it and even less will be able to make that model sustainable,” Mr Cummins said.

Source: The Irish Times May 26, 2021 16:44 UTC