Failte Ireland updated guidelines this afternoon
Live music is now allowed outdoors at pubs, restaurants and hotels after updates to Fáilte Ireland guidelines.
They've also been changed to allow social gatherings of up to 200 people outdoors.
Multiple tables can be booked in these settings but customers won't be allowed to mingle between them.
Sinn Féin TD Matt Carthy says the changes to the rules around outdoor gatherings are simply to save Leo Varadkar's blushes, after he attended a party at the Merrion Hotel in Dublin, organised by Katherine Zappone:
Head of the Restaurants Association of Ireland Adrian Cummins says it will be impossible to police the outdoor settings to make sure people are not mingling between tables:
Carlow musician Dave O'Neill is delighted to be able to perform live again and says online streams have kept him "match fit":
Meanwhile, the Licenced Vintners Association has called for late bars and nightclubs to be opened in September.
It's also calling for live music to be allowed indoors after changes to the Fáilte Ireland guidelines today.
Those rules say live music is allowed in outdoor settings and social events of up to 200 people can be held.
Multiple tables can be booked but people won't be allowed to mingle between them.
CEO of the LVA, Donall O'Keefe, says it's a step in the right direction:
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