Inter-county travel to be considered for early May

A detailed statement on the next stages of reopening is expected to be made this evening.

A plan to lift the ban on inter-county travel soon is being discussed by Cabinet members today. The proposal comes after the Government received updated advice from NPHET. The plan would allow people to travel outside of their own county from 10 May. Earlier this week, the Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan said that the reopening of hospitality and inter-county travel was on course for June. "The opening up of the hospitality is inter-county travel, the two go together so hopefully June we will see the summer start really in earnest," Ryan told the Irish Mirror. With regards to international travel, the Minister said that it won't be "weeks away", but thanks to the roll-out of the vaccination programme, international travel may be "no more than a few months away". Additional proposals would see the reopening of a number of services on 10 May, including hairdressers, click and collect retail and the return of team sports training. A detailed statement on the next stages of easing restrictions is expected to be made this evening. Just days ago, the Taoiseach Micheál Martin spoke about the reopening of the country at a press conference. "We will make a comprehensive statement on Thursday, very comprehensive, and bring full clarity," he said. "We have given a broad outline to the sectors we are going to examine before the end of this month. That worked last month, we gave dates and timelines for the month of April, we have honoured those, so far so good. "We've taken the pressure off the health service, significantly, the Irish people have responded magnificently to the guidelines."