Publicans around the country are making final preparations, ahead of the the lifting of restrictions on bars outside Dublin.
Pubs not serving food will be permitted to open tomorrow, for the first time since mid-March.
But when doors open, the experience will be different for staff and customers alike.
Due the ongoing pandemic, operations will resume under stringent guidelines.
There will be limits on customer numbers in every premises. Social distancing measures are obligatory and there will be enhanced cleaning regimes for all surfaces and contact points.
Table service is mandatory, so ordering or sitting at the bar is a thing of the past, for now. Other guidelines govern noise levels, employee movements and contact tracing.
A number of postponed restart dates have given the sector plenty of time to get its ducks in a row. Now the focus is on ensuring that businesses can stay open in the weeks and months ahead.
For family-run businesses, tomorrow has an added significance. Publicans like Frank and Tom O'Connor in Galway's Salthill are the third generation to run the well known bar in the seaside village.
They have spent weeks planning and preparing for a resumption of business, after the longest enforced closure the pub has ever endured, since it first opened almost 80 years ago.
"The last six months have been difficult, when you’re laying staff off and walking past the building and it’s all closed up. You’re wondering when you’re going to get a start again. And it’s been difficult enough with the false starts too; tapping kegs, getting them ready and then sending them back again," explained Tom O’Connor.
Now though, continuing the hospitality tradition started by their grandfather is to the fore of the brothers' minds.
"The pub is 78 years in the family… it’s been open since 1942 when they had the emergency and now we’re reopening in another emergency with all these restrictions, it’s bizarre," said Tom.
They are hoping that the customer experience won’t be too dissimilar to what prevailed in the past, but they are also keenly aware of the need to implement and adhere to the new guidelines.
For this reason, there will be no amplification for any musicians playing in the bar. This will help keep noise levels down and reduce the need for patrons to have to raise their voices to communicate, minimising the risk of people having to move closer to one another.
Sanitisation stations have been installed at a number of locations around the bar and glass-panelled dividers are in place between tables.
Frank O’Connor said he is confident they can get things back up and running with the modifications that have been carried out. "It’ll be all table service, nobody sitting at the bar, but we’re dying to get back meeting customers and getting into the swing of things."
The organisation representing pub owners says its members have invested heavily in advance of business resuming and that they are committed to operating in line with the new standards.
The Vintners’ Federation has been critical of the length of time restrictions have been in place.
Its Chief Executive, Padraig Cribben, said the reopening of pubs is a good news story, particularly for owners and staff who have been out of work for six months. He contended that the move will also have significant mental health benefits for customers in rural areas, who will be able to meet others in a "safe, socially distanced, controlled environment".
He has called on all publicans to ensure guidelines are enforced so that there can be a collective effort to beat the threat posed by Covid-19.
Mr Cribben is also calling for enhanced Government supports for publicans, who he said will be trading at around 50% capacity for the foreseeable future.
