Pubs, restaurants and cinemas to shut at 8pm over Christmas: Taoiseach:

Bars, restaurants and all indoor events will have to shut their doors from 8pm over the Christmas under new restrictions announced by Taoiseach Micheál Martin this evening.

Addressing the nation from Government Buildings, the Taoiseach said said the Omicron variant is now “exploding throughout Europe”, adding: “It is here, it is in our country… we are going to see a massive rise in infection.

“We are likely to see infections far in excess of anything we’ve seen to date. It is that serious. The challenge we face is how we slow the rise in infection, and how we prevent it from going out of control.”

Under the new measures, an 8pm closing time has been announced for hospitality, live events and other indoor venues such as cinemas and theatres to curb the spread of Covid-19 over Christmas .

The National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) had recommended a closing time of 5pm.

The number of spectators attending sporting events are to be limited to 50% capacity, to a maximum of 5,000 people.

Weddings are to be limited to 100 people and end at midnight, under the proposals agreed by Cabinet, which has finished meeting this evening.

There are no changes to the number allowed for household visits, which will remain set at four households.

There are also no changes to domestic travel for the Christmas period.

The measures stay in place until 30 January, but this date will be kept under review.