McDonald’s will begin its phased reopening of restaurants in Ireland on Wednesday, 20 May.

Beginning with six restaurants in the Dublin area, the service will be drive-through only.

Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed has welcomed the news of a cautious reopening, saying: “McDonald’s is a valued key purchaser of Irish produce and an employer of a large number of people throughout Ireland.

“The last couple of months have been undoubtedly tough, both economically and socially, but the recent announcement from Government on the phased reopening of the country, offers reassurance and hope for brighter days ahead.”

McDonald’s chief executive Paul Pomroy said it has overhauled its operational procedures and put in place additional health and safety measures to protect staff and customers across its restaurants in Ireland and UK.

McDonald’s link to farmers and food producers

There are 95 McDonald’s restaurants in operation in Ireland, owned and operated by 22 franchisees, and employing almost 6,000 staff.

The fast food chain says its independently verified economic report shows that McDonald’s contributed €196m directly to the Irish economy in 2017 and this was likely to have been significantly higher in 2019.

McDonald’s spent €53m with Irish suppliers and it is one of Ireland’s largest purchasers of Irish beef by volume. It spent €163m on Irish produce for export to McDonald’s restaurants in the UK and Europe in 2017.

IFA welcomes reopening

IFA president Tim Cullinan has welcomed the move, saying: “McDonald’s is a major purchaser of Irish beef, spending €160m on 40,000 tonnes each year, and €200m in the economy in total through their 130 restaurants. Beef farmers will be glad to see it reopening. They will hope and need to see a price increase."

“McDonald’s is an iconic global brand and the fact they buy so much Irish beef is recognition of the quality beef produced from our grass-based production system."

IFA livestock chair Brendan Golden said the closure of the food service sector across Europe has hit the Irish beef sector hard and farmers are incurring huge losses.

“The sooner the sector can reopen fully, the better,” he said.