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From Monday, farmers and rural dwellers can travel anywhere within their own county or 20km from their area, in addition to travelling for any essential farm work.
On Friday, An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar announced that it is now safe to move to phase two of the Government's roadmap to reopening the country from coronavirus lockdown starting on Monday 8 June.
He said that gardaí will be enforcing the rules in terms of movement in order to ensure that the virus “is not introduced to COVID-19-free counties”.
The message from Government is to “stay local”, with Varadkar saying that the Government recognises the difficulty of the 5km movement restriction, especially in rural Ireland.
Cocooning
An Taoiseach acknowledged that cocooning has been difficult for those over 70 and the medically vulnerable.
“From Monday, people over the age of 70 can welcome a small number of visitors to their homes, with physical distancing.
“Shops will have dedicated hours for over 70s and at-risk groups,” he said.
Marts
Marts are allowed to reopen with farmer bidders around the ring as scheduled in the roadmap to reopening the country on Monday, as long as farmers can social distance.
Marts have been applying to the Department of Agriculture for a 'safe sales' standard operating procedure (SOP) and will be inspected in the coming days before sales take place early next week.
Sacrifice
From Monday, 25 people will be allowed to attend the funerals of loved ones.
The Minister for Health Simon Harris also said that work is under way to draw up a plan to reopen nursing homes to small amounts of visitors.
An Taoiseach said the acceleration was “made possible because of the considerable sacrifice made to restrict the spread of the virus”.
“Based on medical evidence, recommendations from NPHET and Government reports on the economic and social impact of COVID-19, the cabinet has agreed to implement all elements of phase two and more further along the road map, a phase two-plus if you like,” he said.
He said there will now be just four phases, with phase three beginning on 29 June and phase four on 20 July.
There will still be bans on mass gatherings, with An Taoiseach saying that the ban “may need to remain well into the autumn”.
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