‘Passes are a complete joke and just unworkable’
The Government’s controversial plans for a vaccine pass to allow customers to eat or drink indoors in pubs and restaurants is ‘a complete joke, very hard to understand and unworkable’, according to prominent restaurateur Paul Lenehan.
‘There are way too many legalities involved – questions around people’s civil liberties.
‘If they do go ahead with it, who’s going to check it? Are we putting the responsibility on staff to make sure everyone has a vaccine passport?
‘And let’s say I don’t carry a smartphone. Do I bring a piece of paper? Well then could I just bring someone else’s piece of paper? There is just a huge amount of questions around it.’
Mr Lenehan co-runs two gastropubs – harte’s and The Dew Drop Inn – in Co Kildare, and Ashton’s in Dublin, with business partner Ronan Kinsella. The venues have varying capacities for outdoor service.
The restaurant owner and publican says the vaccine passports are ‘something that possibly could be worked out’ under different circumstances.
But he added: ‘The amount of time and effort that would be required make it unworkable. And we’ve seen from this Government that these big decisions don’t happen in 24 hours or 48 hours or even two weeks. This is going to take a lot of consultation. An awful lot of people are going to have to be brought on board to make sure it works. The pitfalls will be huge.’
The Government announced this week that only fully vaccinated people would be allowed to drink or dine indoors after dire warnings from the National Public health emergency Team of a Delta variant surge overwhelming the country over the summer.
Indoor hospitality in some form is now permitted in most european countries and in some countries similar versions of the proposed vaccine passports – along with negative antigen testing – have been introduced.
Requirements for admission to
bars and restaurants across europe vary from proof of a negative covid test to proof of having recovered from the virus or proof of being fully vaccinated – generally presented through an app or a certificate provided by health services.
Mr Lenehan says the ongoing restrictions on indoor hospitality have been ‘a complete and utter disaster’ for his business and others in the industry.
He told the irish Mail on Sunday: ‘We’ve renovated all three places, spent a lot of money trying to get them back open. So not to be afforded the chance to get indoors to start repaying all the capital expenditure that was spent is a bitter pill to swallow at the moment.
‘certainly in [Harte’s in] Kildare town, where we’ve done the biggest job of the lot of them, but we can’t get open at all for the foreseeable future. it’s very demoralising.’
Despite the threat of the highly transmissible Delta variant that public health experts predict will unleash a fourth wave of the virus, Mr Lenehan says he is ‘100%’ certain restaurants could reopen safely.
‘if every hotel in the country can do it then why can’t we? it’s very hard for us restaurateurs to deal with this stuff where you’ll need a passport to come into my restaurant but it’s OK to dine in the hotel beside me.
‘i genuinely think they [Government] are doing what they think is the best decision. it’s just the way they’re going about it and the lack of clarity and the lack of interaction with us in the hospitality sector – the lack of engagement with us as professionals.
‘Asking us how they can work alongside us to protect our businesses and our customers, when that conversation isn’t being held with the hoteliers at all. And i’m happy to see that sector open, but the lack of clarity is horrendous.’
‘Indoor restrictions are an utter disaster’