‘Twometre rule to keep doors shut on 90pc of pubs, cafés and restaurants’

MOST restaurants and cafés will not reopen and pubs will only be able to serve an eighth of their normal customers, it has been claimed.

The Restaurants Association of Ireland has warned that 120,000 jobs may be lost if “unworkable” new draft guidelines drawn up by Fáilte Ireland are rolled out.

This is because the proposed protocol insists that staff and customers must maintain two metres of social distancing.

It is understood that the draft guidelines to be announced later this week say restaurants and bars need to reduce seating capacity to ensure two metres are kept between each group of guests.

Buffets and self-service carvery are discouraged and owners are advised to remove salt and pepper shakers from tables and to laminate menus or use apps or menu boards.

The draft guidelines also say social distancing should be maintained when taking orders and front-of-house staff should plate up and serve food.

Reopening pubs will be forced to impose drastic limits on their customer numbers under the social distancing rules, according to an analysis commissioned by publicans.

“The new reopening guidelines for restaurants, gastro pubs and cafés will result in 90pc of businesses unable to reopen,” said Adrian Cummins, chief executive of the Restaurants Association of Ireland.

The association wants the protocol changed to reduce social distancing to one metre when businesses in the sector reopen on June 29.

It has also sought clarification on the potential use of screens to reduce the two-metre guideline.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has recommended one metre as a minimum social distancing requirement, but says it should ideally be two metres.

Meanwhile, a report for the Licensed Vintners Association (LVA) and Vintners Federation of Ireland appeals to the Government to reduce the State’s social distancing guidelines to one metre.

Both publican groups are appealing to the Government to permit pubs with restaurant licences to open on the same day as restaurants on June 29.

Pubs must wait until August 10 under the State’s phased plan for exiting lockdown.

The analysis by Knapton Consulting Engineers found that the typical pub would see customer capacity slashed by 87pc if the two-metre rule between patrons is enforced.

In normal conditions, a pub typically can accommodate two people per square metre when standing, or one person seated at a table. This translates into a maximum of 200 customers standing or 100 sitting in a 100sqm area.

The report finds that the two-metre rule would drop capacity in that same space to just 25 people standing or 34 sitting.

By contrast, it found the WHO tolerance for one-metre spacing would allow that same space to contain 100 standing customers – four times as many. Those dining in seated areas could be nearly doubled to 65.

The report found that many traditional smaller pubs would face a challenge even getting a tenth of their usual customer traffic into their tight layouts.

“Physical distancing will result in a greater reduction in occupancy for narrow, small pubs than on those with larger-circulation spaces with higher footfalls,” it found.

LVA chief executive Donal O’Keeffe said the findings raised doubts over whether many pubs “can afford to reopen”.

He said the reductions in seating and standing capacity would have an extreme impact on turnover.

A Fáilte Ireland spokesperson declined to comment until the draft guidelines for reopening restaurants and cafés are published later this week.