Simon Harris urges people to stay home this weekend

Easter Weekend is traditionally one of the busiest periods of the year.

Simon Harris has insisted that people must not ease up on safety measures introduced to limit the spread of Covid-19 this weekend. Easter Weekend is traditionally one of the busiest periods of the year for the tourism and hospitality industries in Ireland and there have been reports this week of people travelling to holiday homes in tourist hotspots throughout the country. The Minister for Health has pleaded with the public to continue to abide by the safety restrictions that are currently in place in an attempt to slow down the spread of Covid-19. Speaking on RTÉ's Prime Time on Tuesday night, Harris said: "We need to follow the public health advice, particularly as we come into what is traditionally a busy holiday weekend. There simply cannot be one this weekend." "36 people in our country lost their lives today to Covid-19," Harris added. "And I think that sobering figure really needs to remind all of us as individual citizens why what we're doing is so important." https://twitter.com/rtenews/status/1247636524633448448?s=20 Harris' plea came after he announced that he would be signing regulations that would empower the Gardaí to enforce various restrictions relating to social distancing. Gardaí will now be able to arrest and detain those found to be in breach of the regulations - such as travelling for non-essential purposes, or exercising outside of a two kilometre radius from one's home. Gardaí did not formally have this power until Tuesday night, and had instead been requesting that the public comply with the directives.