The Strand Bar in the seaside village of Strandhill, Co Sligo is a popular spot with locals and tourists alike.
The bar is run by three brothers, Neil, John and Johnson Byrne and this morning they were meeting to try to figure out their next steps in light of the latest information on guidelines for reopening.
Draft guidelines from the Health Protection Surveillance Centre have indicated that restaurants and pubs that serve food may be able to reduce the two-metre physical distancing restriction to one metre in certain circumstances when they reopen later this month.
One of the biggest issues for the Byrne brothers now is the suggestion that customers could only stay in the bar for 90 minutes.
Neil says this has to be looked at again, adding that a two-hour sitting would be more realistic as it is the way most restaurants operate their bookings.
"The clock starts ticking when a customer comes in and very quickly a half an hour is gone just looking at the menu, ordering drinks, then ordering food, and then it's over to the kitchen to start preparing - a two-hour sitting would be far more realistic."
Booking a table in advance would also be a new departure for the bar and the €9 charge also raises questions.
The Strand does a huge day-time business with a lot of people coming in for a soup and sandwich, which could cost in the region of €6.50.
Neil now wonders will they now have to say to people that they will need to order a couple of portions of chips with their lunch to make it up to €9.
The bottom line for the Byrne brothers though, is that staff and customers must be safe, and rules must be kept. Anyone found flouting the rules should be shut down, Neil said.
Before going back into the planning meeting with his brothers, Neil said that this is going to be whole new way of operating for everyone and he hopes that customers will be understanding.
"Staff may have to come down to a table to tell customers that their time is up which will be a difficult job for them to do", he said, "But if everyone, customers and staff, work together then we'll all get through it."
Meanwhile, management at Bodega restaurant in Waterford's city centre has welcomed the one-metre social distancing rule, describing it as "fantastic".
However, they have also sounded a warning about the viability of the 90 minute time limit for customers, as well as the requirement to book places, rather than "walk-up" to the door.
Bodega has been running a takeaway service with sister restaurant Burzza in recent weeks, but will be opening their doors to sit-down customers shortly after the 29 June changeover to Phase Three.
"The news of the one-metre rule makes all the difference in the world," said Cormac Cronin owner of Bodega.
"Previously with us, we were an 85-seater restaurant and with the two metres we were going to be down to probably 35, maybe 40. I measured it out today with the one-metre guidelines and we will be able to get roughly 60 people in, which is a viable business again, thankfully."
He said they would welcome more clarification on whether tables will be allowed where customers may not be one metre apart but would be sitting back-to-back and not facing each other.
The positive side of the new booking system is that they can work it to try and prevent "no-shows" by people, he said, but the negative aspect is that it will make it difficult for restaurants in tourist hotspots.
"Are restaurants really expected to turn away people who show up at the door? What if they’re standing outside and ring up the restaurant and book, is that a walk-in or a booking?"
Meanwhile, the 90-minute rule will not be an issue for casual restaurants, according to the Bodega owner, "but for fine-dining restaurants, to have a three-course meal in 90 minutes, it really isn't viable".
The Wage Subsidy Scheme has allowed them to operate the takeaway business up to now and, heading into the next phase, while the new guidelines are welcome, more are needed, he said.
"I definitely see some green shoots… We are looking forward to re-opening and we're looking for people to support their local restaurants and local suppliers… We're shopping local and staying local and that’s what we need people to do."
Reporting Eileen Magnier and Conor Kane
