"We've been waiting for this day for a long time so we’re not going to mess up or take the regulations with a pinch of salt." Publican Mark Fitzgerald closed his family’s pub, The Thatch in the village of Cloneen in south Tipperary, the day before all pubs were asked by the Government to shut in March, and the place has been empty ever since. "It hasn’t been easy," he said, reflecting on the last six months. "It’s the not knowing is the worst thing.
I think that was the case for a lot of publicans, it was this uncertainty, will we ever be able to open our doors again?" He said the news of the reopening of traditional pubs which do not serve food is "very welcome" and said pub owners will make it work. "Without a doubt.