'We must now develop our plan for reopening Limerick city' - Limerick Chamber boss reacting to Taoiseach's address

THE CEO of Limerick Chamber says “we must now develop our plan for reopening Limerick city”, following the Taoiseach’s announcement this evening of a five-stage roadmap outlining how Irish society and the economy can be reopened during the Covid-19 pandemic.

In response to the anticipated commencement of easing of restrictive measures on May 18, Dee Ryan said that while the Government continues to work on plans at a national level to restart the economy “we must prepare now for a Mid-West reopening for business”. 

“I acknowledge the work our elected representatives and local authority have done to date to assist in physical distancing and to ease the burden of cocooning for our loved ones, but in a thoughtful and measured way, we must now develop our plan for reopening Limerick city,” she said.

Ms Ryan has called for the implementation of safety measures to facilitate an increased number of people moving around the streets - “giving priority to space for pedestrians and cyclists as has been advocated by Limerick representatives of cyclist and pedestrian lobby groups, to ensure observation of physical distancing, and supporting businesses to reopen with measures like parklets and other forward thinking uses of our parking bays and excess lanes.”

Limerick Chamber is the largest business representative body in the Mid-West with over 440 member organisations supporting more than 50,000 jobs across the Mid-West region.

In his address this Friday evening Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said “we can only move from one stage to the next if we can keep the virus under control”. 

Mr Varadkar also said that outdoor workers will be able to return to work in two weeks' time on May 18. And from that date some retail outlets like garden centres, hardware stores and repair shops will reopen.