It will be the end of June/ early July at the earliest before any pubs re-open. That’s the view of the Chairman of Mayo Vintners Alan Gielty.

It’s a year since the country's 7,100 pubs were closed due to the pandemic, and at that time they were told they would be open again at the end of March.

Mr Gielty, of Gielty’s Bar and Restaurant, Dooagh Achill says the impact of the extended closure of pubs on people’s mental health and the lack of social interaction is having a real impact on rural communities.

He has also highlighted the cost of shutdown on publicans paying mortgages, where the government subsidy payments, while welcome, are not adequate.

One year down the line, Alan has been telling Midwest News Editor Teresa O’Malley about the impact on the pub trade…