'Too soon' to be taking off on holidays overseas, Taoiseach says
The public should not travel in or out of Ireland for the purposes of tourism, according to the Taoiseach.
Despite Ryanair and other airlines marketing heavily for a return to air travel, Leo Varadkar says it is "too soon" for Irish people to be taking off on holidays overseas.
"Obviously people have constitutional rights and human rights as EU citizens people are free to travel, work and study anywhere in the European Union, if they want to, and as part of the common travel area with the UK, we have the right to travel freely between the UK and Ireland," he said.
But this is an unusual situation, that is a public health emergency and in certain situations like this, member States are able to make their own rules.
Bilateral travel agreements - or 'air bridges' - have been looked at by a number of governments in Europe as a way to kick start tourism post- Covid19.
The agreements are between countries that have low transmission rates and recognise each other’s departure screening measures for passengers which removes the need for quarantine.
"We do want to be in a position to agree on air bridges to travel between Ireland and other countries where the virus is also successfully suppressed," Mr Varadkar said.
"We need that coordination on an EU level, and we intend to be part of that, but we think that June 15 is far too soon for us to do that here in Ireland.
"So we're going to see what's possible to firm up, work with our EU colleagues, the UK and the administration in Northern Ireland.
We might be in a new situation in about two weeks' time, but for now, the advice remains the same: don't travel off the island for tourism, don't come to the island for tourism.
"Anyone is arriving here, even for an essential reason, through our ports our airports will have to complete the passenger application form, and will be strongly advised to self-quarantine for at least 14 days.
"For people to book flights, if they do, there's no guarantee that they will be able to travel, and there's a very strong possibility that they will have to self-quarantine for two weeks on return."
Many fear that Ireland has been put in an unpleasant position due to its location as Britain's nearest neighbour, where they have been unable to reduce the virus at the same rate as other European countries, and the Taoiseach says there is a concern Ireland could see the virus reintroduced by British tourists.
"That is a concern," he said.
"There are almost 50,000 deaths already confirmed in the United Kingdom, probably higher, if they counted deaths the way that we do.
"The reproductive number is still up around one, in some British regions.
"So, there is a real risk of reintroduction of the virus being brought into Ireland by people travelling here from Britain, and that's why no restrictions will stay in place."
Leo Varadkar also told the media on Friday that his cabinet had welcomed the nomination of the new President of the High Court, Ms Justice Mary Irvine, the first woman to be appointed to the role.
