Ireland Releases ‘green list’ of Countries for Safe Travel – but Misses Out Great Britain!

THE Irish government has released a “green list” of destinations it deems safe to travel to, but Great Britain is noticeably missing!

From now on, travellers arriving from the list of 15 countries – which includes Italy and Greece – will not be required to isolate for two weeks upon their return to the Republic of Ireland.

Other arrivals from overseas – with limited exceptions such as essential supply chain workers – will be required to fill in a passenger locator form and then self-quarantine for 14 days. Regular checks will be made to ensure people are where they say they are, by phone calls and visits to the addresses supplied.

Those arriving from Great Britain will also have to self-quarantine for 14 days – though people crossing the border from Northern Ireland are not subject to restrictions on their movement.

Only places with a coronavirus infection rate the same or lower than Ireland were allowed on the list. Great Britain and the US were expected to be excluded, as were France, Spain and Portugal. Ireland has one of the lower rates of infection in the European Union – with around five cases per 100,000 people in the past 14 days.

The list is set to be reviewed every fortnight, with the criteria for the list based on the number of recent cases and the testing regime in each country. But Irish travellers are still advised, “to avoid all non-essential travel overseas until further notice” according to government advice. In a statement, the Irish government said: “Anyone arriving into Ireland from these countries will not have to restrict their movements.”