No More Forced Masks: Ireland to Dump Almost All Remaining COVID Rules

DUBLIN, IRELAND - OCTOBER 15: Shoppers walk down Henry Street on October 15, 2009 in Dubli
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Peter Caddle

A return to normality is on the cards for Ireland, as the authorities announce that almost all lockdown rules will be eased on Monday.

Mask mandates, mandatory testing and close contact isolation requirements are all set to be scrapped in Ireland from Monday according to an announcement from the country’s government.

The move marks a return to normality for the island nation, though some maintain that the government deserves a metaphorical “slap on the head” for allowing draconian lockdowns to be implemented in the first place.

According to a report by the Irish Times, the vast majority of mask mandates within the country are set to be completely scrapped.

This includes forced mask-wearing in schools, as well as on public transport, both of which are set to be lifted from next Monday.

Meanwhile, measures forcing large swathes of Irish people to get tested for COVID should they experience certain symptoms are also set to be wiped from the books, along with rules requiring close contacts of confirmed cases to self-isolate.

Some restrictions are to remain in place however, including mandatory mask-wearing in medical settings, while a regime of testing for those over the age of 55 will also continue to be supported.

Pregnant women and those with compromised immune systems will also still be encouraged to get tested for the disease should they exhibit symptoms.

During a brief interview with RTÉ, Ireland’s Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly, noted that a number of people in Ireland would be nervous about the reopening, but emphasised that it was the correct move for the country.

“Based on the current trajectory of the disease and based on how many people have been vaccinated and boosted… this is the appropriate thing to do at this time,” the Minister for Health told the state broadcaster.

Meanwhile, the government’s Minister for Transport, Eamonn Ryan, emphasised that the government was still advising people to wear masks on public transport, but that it was time to make the measure optional.

“[The advice] is not mandatory,” Minister Ryan told the broadcaster, noting that when students return from Ireland’s mid-term break that “it will be very welcome for younger children particularly not to have to wear a mask.”

Others remain critical of the government’s draconian lockdowns despite the loosening, with the President of the Irish Freedom Party, Hermann Kelly, demanding that the Irish people get assurances that restrictions are gone for good.

“The Government deserves a slap on the head not a slap on the back,” Kelly told Breitbart London. “It’s not truly over until all civil rights destroying legislation is off the books and there has been a full independent investigation into how the whole debacle was allowed to happen.”

“The families of those who died and who lost jobs need justice,” the IFP president continued. “The rest of Irish society needs protection and reassurance that the events of the last two years will never happen again.”

Ireland’s decision to scrap almost all of its COVID measures comes hot on the heels of a UK announcement that its regime of COVID testing and mandatory self-isolation for those infected with the disease will be phased out starting this week.

Britain’s Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, made the declaration that England would be scrapping the remainder of its lockdown rules on Monday, saying the decision would mark the end of “two of the darkest, grimmest years in our peacetime history”.

“Today is not the day we can declare victory over COVID, because this virus is not going away,” the UK premier noted during a press conference. “But it is the day when all the efforts of the last two years finally enabled us to protect ourselves whilst restoring our liberties in full.”

Other European nations, including the Netherlands, Norway, and even forced-vax loving Austria have all also announced dramatic easings of their COVID measures in recent weeks, marking a sea change in how Europe is dealing with the disease.

Other countries both inside and outside the continent however, such as Germany and Canada, are still clinging to lockdown rules, despite the measures resulting in tensions within their respective populations.

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