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THE PRESIDENT OF the Irish Hotels Federation (IHF) has said relating the number of wedding guests allowed to the size of the venue is one option that should be considered to allow social distancing to take place.
Under the government’s Living with Covid-19 plan, Level 5 restrictions mean that only six guests are allowed at a wedding along with the couple getting married.
The six guest limit is also the number allowed under Level 4 restrictions, with this increasing to 25 guests if the county in question is at Level 3 restrictions.
The government had allowed 25 guests to be permitted at weddings during Level 5 restrictions in October and November but Taoiseach Micheál Martin had said that was due to the small number of weddings actually taking place.
Officials are currently undertaking a review of the Living With Covid-19 plan with the “refreshed” guidelines slated to be published on the week beginning 22 February.
Chief Medical Officer Dr. Tony Holohan said last week that it was not the time to speculate about the potential size of weddings in the summer months but the IHF has said it is “looking forward” to the guest limit increasing from six people.
IHF President Elaina Fitzgerald Kane said that weddings have had specific rules as part of previous government plans and that this should continue.
The hotelier was speaking during the launch of a government skills programme for hospitality workers which heard that there were some 160,000 people from the sector currently out of work.
“Weddings are very difficult now in terms of it being six to eight [guests], you have people choosing between siblings to a degree,” Fitzgerald Kane said.
We are looking forward to that number increasing. I suppose what we would like to see are measures such as relating capacity to the size of the venue. That would give us an opportunity to potentially allow for safe social distancing.
“I think we have to take a broader view in terms of trying to increase the numbers. We’re going to have to do it safely and against the backdrop of the general levels of restrictions that are in place.”
The hotelier manages a family-run hotel in Adare and said they hosted weddings during the last period of reopening.
“Right now it’s six to eight [guests], we don’t know what it’s going to look like beyond that but from my own perspective we hosted 31 weddings after the reopening very, very safely,” she said.
At a Department of Health briefing last week, the Chief Medical Officer was asked whether couples planning a wedding should be preparing for small events this summer.
Holohan said that NPHET was “sensitive to these being very important life events” for people but that it was too early to speak about what could be safe in a number of months’ time.
“We’re still reporting too high a level of disease to be speculating about what might happen when we get back to the level of control we need to get to. We have a substantial amount of work to do for the remainder of February just to stay on the track that we’re on,” he said.
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At what point do we get an answer as to what happens when vulnerable populations are vaccinated and hospital numbers go down? This is already happening, why is it so unreasonable for people to ask how many people should be expected to be allowed attend weddings/stay in a hotel/go on a staycation in the summer? This its to early to tell stuff is getting very old. Surely they have modelling for what these lockdowns will produce. There’s never any delay in trotting out the doom and gloom. The lack of will to provide any kind of empathy, hope and optimism from this government and NPHET is incredible.
@Keith Mckenna: the ICU numbers are.still up.
@Keith Mckenna: Its holiday, not staycation.
@Cosmos20202020: They are certainly still high but they are not up. Thats misleading. They are down around 15% since the first of February and falling week on week.
@Paul Cunningham:
@Keith Mckenna: Hopefully they’ll have answers in the revised living with Covid plan. Most people understand that a somewhat cautious re-opening is what’s required but they must have targets surely? What can re-open when we get to less than 100 cases per day along with over 70′s having been vaccinated for example? It’d be good for people to know what the targets are. Dates are difficult to predict but the government must know what numbers they are looking for.
@Cian Nolan: 100% agree dates are difficult but scenario’s should be available at least then we can see the data and know what we are working towards. Eg. When vulnerable populations are vaccinated and 40 – 50% of adults are vaccinated what happens?
@Keith Mckenna: anyone who has been vaccinated or who have had the virus should be allowed do what they like.
@Cosmos20202020: that wasn’t their question.
@Chris Mc: What if they’re still infectious? What if they come into contact with a variant that the vaccine is only 50% effective against? It’s not that straightforward.
With drink on one side of the counter and money making on the other side it’s just too dangerous and we’ve all had enough of boom bust Covid.
@Gerry Ryan: so dont go. Problem solved for you.
@AJ: Not really. If someone goes and contracts Covid at a wedding and spreads it in the community, then it affects all of us and possibly the hospitals.
You will always get a few to break the limit and spoil it for everyone.
It’s all well and good to disagree with the comments in the article but this has a massive affect on people’s mental health. I’m due to get married in April and we’re getting no information at all from the government about numbers. Previously it had been 25 at level 5 now it’s 6 at level 5. It’s impossible to plan like this. Christmas was very different, Christmas was a big event for everyone in the country, weddings are a big event for a very small few by comparison. If it was increased to 25/50 and everyone played by the rule. (Face coverings, hand washing, not attending if unwell etc.) many would view as an acceptable minimal risk.
@Keith Brady: totally. It’s been the same all along. As a wedding photographer, it’s not much fun watching all the rest of society get on with reopening knowing we are gonna be bottom of the heap again. Couples and suppliers need some sort of certainty in this as is being provided to other sectors of economy. I’m not saying they should open the gates for weddings but a clear plan for scenarios is all we could expect. Hope you can go ahead in April. Best of luck with it.
I strongly disagree with what the hotel federation are proposing. Considering all the weddings I have been at it doesn’t matter what size the room is. People will all congregate in 1 area with no social distancing and add alcohol into this will make it worse. Look what happened at Christmas! We only have ourselves to blame. They majority of people want some sort of normal Christmas.
@Maria: I have no notion of waiting til Christmas to get my life back.
I’d leave more attend the church and up to 50 or so at the afters if they were really interested in attending….providing they stay off the drink for the day…… if it’s a good ould wedding p1ss up they are intending then no.
@Max Power:
A lot of weddings don’t take place in a church anymore. They take place in the hotel.
@Max Power: If the virus is still dictating how we live our lives during the summer months, then I would imagine the virus is not the problem.
Reading these comments just goes to show the fear that Holohan and the government have installed into people
Good God no, no, no…..
have your say