‘It’s like it was on Good Fridays'

 

The closure order on pubs this St Patrick’s Day due to Covid-19 has seen some people keen for a pint decamp north of the Border in a move reminiscent of the former ban on sale of alcohol on Good Fridays.

“It feels a bit like that alright,” the manager in Derrylin’s Blakes Bar tells The Anglo-Celt earlier this afternoon. The alcohol prohibition on the Easter holiday had been in place in Ireland on Good Friday for 90 years, before the Government moved to amend the act.

The landmark pub is relatively busy with punters, and not all from south of the Border. But business was “steady” on Sunday night with visitors from Cavan, Leitrim and further afield, and the hope is that trade will continue to pick up as the day goes on.

The opening of pubs in one jurisdiction is one of several stark anomalies arising out of the difference in tact taken by Governments in the Republic and UK to trying to tackle the further spread of the Covid-19 virus.

There are no parades taking place on either side of the Border, with all such events capable of attracting large crowds cancelled.

Off-licences in both Cavan and Fermanagh were reportedly “busy” in recent days with people planning on celebrating from the comfort of their own homes, some informing this newspaper that fridges were being regularly restocked.

On Blakes bar’s TV there’s traditional Irish music playing and sparse decoration, but little else would given anyone the impression that this was a national holiday.

Pat from Ballinamore is sitting at the end of the popular south Fermanagh haunt with his brother.

They’ve travelled up from the north Leitrim town for chat and enjoy a pint in a pub atmosphere.

He laments that local pubs in his area have had to close due to restrictions, and fears for some at least that they might never now reopen due to loss of livelihood.

“Everything is shut down. This was out only option for St Patrick’s Day, more or less. The danger is some will never reopen now. Where will that leave towns and villages.”

Another punter, Dessie from Kinawley, says though that despite pubs being open in the north, people are still heeding the health warnings and staying away. But for some, like his neighbours on the bar stools to his left, “this is their only option.”

“There are a lot of people who would’ve gone out and maybe had a pint or two, now they’ve no place to go, left on their own. The pubs are important for some people, to chat and enjoy being social,” says Dessie. “I’d think of them, being told up here to stay away for four weeks from people. Sure what sort of advice is that?”.