The chair of the Irish Hotels Federation in the north-west is hopeful that the decision to re-open all pubs will see a change to the rules in other areas of the hospitality sector.
All pubs are set to re-open on September 21st but the government has left open the option of closing them again in certain areas if the number of Covid cases rise.
A recent survey from the IHG suggested that over 1,000 jobs could be at risk in Leitrim and Roscommon due to a sharp drop in occupancy of hotels and guesthouses due to the pandemic
Just over 22% of hotel rooms in the midlands and 33% in the border counties are set to be occupied in the next two months.
Michael Yates, chair of the Roscommon, Sligo and Leitrim branch of the Irish Hotels Federation believes the move to re-open all pubs will be a major boost for the rest of the hospitality industry :
