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30th Apr 2021

International travel and holidays expected to resume “later on in the summer”

Stephen Porzio

Exact timelines on the reopening of international travel will be released in the next two months, according to Transport Minister Eamon Ryan.

Minister Eamon Ryan has said he expects international travel and holidays to resume “later on in the summer”, but that he does not want to create “false expectation”.

As part of Thursday’s announcement on the easing of Covid-19 restrictions in Ireland over the coming months, the Government revealed a number of “higher-risk activities” will be considered at the end of June for recommencement later in the year, including international travel.

Speaking on Newstalk Breakfast on Friday, Ryan gave more clarity on the topic – stating that over the next month the government will be working with its European colleagues to prepare for international travel reopening.

He clarified that when he used the term “international travel”, it included travelling for work purposes, to visit friends and family and to go on holidays.

Ryan told the show: “I don’t want to give an exact date because we have to be careful. We have to work with our European colleagues in having the international system where we can particularly assess vaccination certificates.”

Asked for an indication as to when foreign travel may return, the Minister responded: “I would imagine later on in the summer but… we have to be careful first.

“We do have to review what’s happening first and foremost with variants that… the vaccines aren’t able to counter.”

Ryan revealed the exact timelines on the recommencement of international travel will be released in the next two months.

His comments come a day after the European Parliament voted in favour of introducing EU Covid-19 certificates, also known as Digital Green Certificates.

It is said the EU Covid-19 certificates will “reaffirm the right to free movement in Europe during the pandemic”.

The document, which may be presented in a digital or paper format, will prove that a person travelling throughout the EU has either been vaccinated against Covid-19, has a recent negative test result, or has recently recovered from the virus.

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