Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Republic of Ireland

Essential public health measures announced by the Irish Government to contain the spread of COVID-19 resulted in the largest monthly increase in unemployment in the history of the Republic of Ireland during March 2020.

[15] On 18 March, banks—together with Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe—announced a range of measures, including providing working capital, payment breaks and deferred court proceedings.

[16] On 19 March, Regina Doherty announced that all welfare would be distributed each fortnight instead of the traditional weekly, so as to limit the number of people gathering in post offices.

[25] The Revenue Commissioners announced that tax exiles, normally permitted to spend 183 days of each year within Ireland, could stay for longer in 2020—without affecting taxation—if they could provide evidence that the virus prevented them from leaving.

[28] On 9 May, Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation Heather Humphreys announced a "Return to Work Safely Protocol" which was published online to support employers and workers to put measures in place that would prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the workplace, when the economy begins to slowly open up.

[31][32][33] On 22 May, the Government had signed off on €6.8 billion in extra funding for the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection, as it was due to reach this year's spending limit early the following month.

[38] On 7 September, it was announced that Ireland was now officially in recession after the economy shrank by 6.1% between April and June as the impact of COVID-19 brought the largest quarterly drop on record, following new figures published by the Central Statistics Office.

As the third phase of the government's roadmap got underway on 29 June, all restaurants and cafés reopened serving on premises food and strict social distancing and cleaning measures in place.

[64] On 4 August, Tánaiste Leo Varadkar announced that restaurants and pubs serving food would now have to close by 11 pm, but takeaways and deliveries could remain open after that time.

[70] On 24 December (Christmas Eve), all restaurants, cafés and gastropubs closed again at 3 pm following the reimposition of Level 5 lockdown restrictions (subject to a number of adjustments) until 12 January 2021 at the earliest, after a third wave of COVID-19 arrived in Ireland.

[89][90] On the night of 14 July, hundreds of people gathered outside the Convention Centre in Dublin to protest against the Government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic after the Dáil passed legislation to allow for the reopening of indoor dining.

[96][97] On 6 August, in the wake of the Merrion Hotel controversy, Fáilte Ireland updated its hospitality guidelines to allow customers book multiple tables and host outdoor gatherings with live music for up to 200 people.

[103] On 21 January 2022, Taoiseach Micheál Martin announced the easing of almost all COVID-19 restrictions, with pubs and restaurants to resume normal trading times with no social distancing or vaccine certificates requirements, while rules on the wearing of masks would remain.

On 14 March, Minister for Health Simon Harris slammed "insulting" videos on social media showing packed pubs and stag and hen parties at Temple Bar, Dublin.

[143] SuperValu announced Plexiglass would be distributed to its outlets nationwide; even small shops had Perspex protective screens placed in front of their cashier desks.

[150][151] Italian confectioner Ferrero SpA justified its decision to continue making Tic Tacs in the southern city of Cork during the nationwide shutdown by releasing a statement that said: "Food... as per the guidelines published by the Irish Government, falls under the critical sectors that should be maintained during the current crisis".

Film footage of a fox browsing the shop doorways of Brown Thomas before dashing across the street to peep into the (shut, yet advertised as "open") Foodhall of the British retailer Marks & Spencer circulated on social media.

[176][177] All non-essential businesses and services closed and all public and private gatherings of any number of people was banned again on 21 October following the Government's announcement to move the entire country to Level 5 lockdown restrictions for six weeks until 1 December.

[178][179] On 23 October, it was announced that a planned expansion of The Square (a shopping centre in Tallaght) had been postponed, with management Sigma Retail Partners blaming the pandemic.

[181] On 1 December, all non-essential retail shops, hair and beauty providers, gyms and leisure centres, cinemas, museums and galleries reopened after six weeks of closure.

[194] Minister for Health Simon Harris told the Dáil on 23 April that arrivals at an airport would be obliged to fill out a form stating their place of residence for the course of their stay in the country.

[196] On 20 December, the Government agreed to impose a 48-hour suspension on flights from the United Kingdom from midnight following fears over the spread of a new strain of COVID-19, while ferries will be limited to freight travel.

[203] On 15 June, the Government agreed to increase the self-isolation period for travellers arriving in Ireland from Britain from 5 to 10 days for those who are not fully vaccinated amid Delta variant concerns.

[211] One man repatriated from Canada through London on 23 March travelled from Dublin Airport to his home in County Leitrim in his father's cattle trailer as a precaution; word of the trip spread internationally to both hemispheres.

[222] The countries were: Malta, Finland, Norway, Italy, Hungary, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Cyprus, Slovakia, Greece, Greenland, Gibraltar, Monaco and San Marino.

[230] On 22 October, the Government agreed to align Ireland with the new European 'traffic light' system to coordinate international COVID-19 travel restrictions coming into force on Sunday 8 November.

[233] However, after a third wave of COVID-19 arrived in the country in late December 2020, on 29 January 2021, the ECDC moved Ireland from 'orange' to 'dark red' on the EU traffic light map for international travel.

[257] On 11 April, an Irish man and an Israeli woman who challenged their detention in mandatory hotel quarantine and claimed they had been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 were released pending court hearings.

[260][261] On 27 July, Gardaí began a major investigation after a female member of the Defence Forces was allegedly raped by a male colleague in a mandatory quarantine hotel facility in Dublin.

[263] On 30 November, the Government announced that legislation allowing for the re-establishment of mandatory hotel quarantine would be introduced, under additional measures in a bid to curb the spread of COVID-19.