“I’d really ask people to accept that message.”
If members of the public do not follow the current Covid-19 restrictions in place in Ireland then the restrictions may be extended, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said.
He said Ireland is in a position where there is a possibility that some restrictions may be eased after 5 May, but the responsibility is in our own hands.
Varadkar was speaking at the launch of In This Together, an initiative to provide advice and tips on how you can look after your mental wellbeing, stay active and stay connected.
He said he knows this is hard, but said that the next 11 days are crucial and he wanted to use persuasion rather than the Gardaí to get the message across to stay at home.
“There is the prospect of easing some of the restrictions after 5 May,” Varadkar said.
“All of us want that to happen, but it is in our hands as a society. If we do the right thing for the next 11 days, if we continue to wash our hands, engage with respiratory etiquette, keep our distance from other people, following the guidelines that have been set down by the Chief Medical Officer.
“That really increases our prospects of being able to ease restrictions from 5 May. But anyone who’s thinking of breaking those restrictions even for a few hours, an evening or a day, bear in mind the consequences.
“It could be having to extend the current lockdown for another two or three weeks and that’s not worth it just for a few hours of breach.
“I’d really ask people to accept that message and certainly I’m trying to use the powers of persuasion as much as the powers that the Gardaí have,” Varadkar added.
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