Ireland’s government has instructed pub operators not to open on the eve of St. Patrick’s Day.
The closure, announced Sunday via Twitter, urged watering holes nationwide to take orders for last call at the end of the night, then not reopen until March 29 at the soonest. The drastic measure is in response to the worldwide coronavirus pandemic.
“The Government is now calling on all public houses and bars (including hotel bars) to close from this evening (Sunday 15th March) until at least 29 March,” tweeted Irish defense minister Leo Varadkar.
Officials on the Emerald Island also discouraged St. Patrick’s Day revelers not to throw house parties where the deadly virus could spread, much the same way as it would in a pub.
The tweet explained that “pubs are specifically designed to promote social interaction in a situation where alcohol reduces personal inhibitions.”
Social media users worried that closing pubs in Ireland, particularly during the biggest drinking holiday of the year, would be financially devastating for hospitality industry employees. There was also concern that historic public houses could be bankrupted by the shutdown.
Varadkar’s tweet attempted to quell those concerns by stating the government and national trade organizations are discussing “support measures for businesses and their staff” affected by COVID-19, which is the sickness caused by coronavirus.
Dublin, Ireland’s biggest city, canceled its annual St. Patrick’s Day parade last week. More than 50,000 people make the pilgrimage to Ireland to celebrate the holiday each year. That too is expected to hurt Irish businesses depending on tourism money.
Guinness beer, an Irish staple, is consumed in 150 countries on St. Paddy’s Day, according to the company’s website. Nearly 13 million pints of the popular stout are ordinarily consumed on March 17.
St. Patrick’s Day is the traditional celebration of Maewyn Succat, who took on the name Patrick after being ordained as a priest, according to National Geographic. The Catholic church declared St. Patrick’s Day a day of feasts in 1631and closed pubs for the event.
The event later grew to be an international celebration of Ireland’s patron saint, with many of the world’s larger parades taking place in New York City, Boston and Chicago.
As legend has it, St. Patrick, dressed in green, drove all the snakes out of Ireland in 461 A.D., leaving the island forever serpent free. As Irish Central reports, Ireland had been free of snakes long before St. Patrick’s days on Earth.
