“If those capacities are a lot less than is financially viable, a lot of us won’t open and their big weekend is going to be a big flop.”
A Dublin nightclub promoter is not ruling out the use of vaccine passports when clubs reopen as he called for “clarity” from the Government.
Buzz told Newstalk that with 16 days to the proposed reopening and six weeks after the initial announcement was made, club owners and promoters are looking for a framework of guidelines.
“We have a situation where we have possible capacities, or it may not be 22 October,” he said.
“This Government love PR, they love spin, they love a big moment.
“The reality is if they open nightclubs in this city with reduced capacity – or if they propose to – and if those capacities are a lot less than is financially viable, a lot of us won’t open and their big weekend is going to be a big flop.”
Nightclubs and other “high-risk” activities are set to reopen on 22 October with the need for face masks in private settings and the vaccine passport system for domestic purposes also to be removed.
“We’re asking for clear guidelines today, we want to know how many people we can allow into our spaces safely,” he added.
“When you look at the body language, and the actual language by Micheál Martin when he made this announcement several weeks ago, they never have said ‘definitely and 100%’.
“They say ‘maybe and hopefully’ – and even as of yesterday, it’s ‘most restrictions will hopefully or possibly be lifted'”.
“We just want to get open, but we want to know under what circumstances we can open – there’s absolutely no reason why the Taoiseach cannot make a statement this evening.”
The event promoter added that clubs won’t rule out the use of vaccine passports in the beginning and would also be open to antigen testing during the “first couple of months”.
“We want to make it the safest place people can be in – and if that means vaccine passports then so be it,” he said.
“If they really push us on antigen testing, if we have to do that for the first couple of months we will.”
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