Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Republic of Ireland
The COVID-19 pandemic in the Republic of Ireland has had far-reaching consequences in the country that go beyond the spread of the disease itself and efforts to quarantine it, including political, educational and sporting implications.
Arts
Parades and general festivals
parades were called off due to concerns that they would be a threat to public health. Galway was the last Irish city to do so, as its local politicians simply deferred making the decision until the government forced it upon them by cancelling all parades. The Orange Order cancelled its annual 12 July parades due to the virus, with one of those taking place in Rossnowlagh. On 11 March, the organisers for Dublin Comic Con announced the cancellation of their 2020 Spring convention, due to have taken place in the Convention Centre from 15 to 17 March and which would have hosted celebrity guests such as Jason Isaacs and Peter Weller. On 29 April, it was announced that the 2020 Dublin Pride Festival would be cancelled, with an alternative "interactive digital festival" taking place instead. 26 June brought the cancellation of the 2020 Ballinasloe Horse Fair festival, due to have taken place in Ballinasloe at the beginning of October. 20 July brought the cancellation of the 2020 Lisdoonvarna Matchmaking Festival, due to have taken place in Lisdoonvarna from 4 September. The cancellation of the festival was said to be a €2.5 million loss to the economy of the town.On 20 January 2021, the St Patrick's Day parade in Dublin was cancelled for a second year.
On 14 July 2021, the Ballinasloe Horse Fair festival was cancelled for a second year in a row.
On 17 March 2022, celebrations took place across the country to mark St Patrick's Day, following a two-year absence due to COVID-19, with around 400,000 people attending festivities in Dublin.
Galway 2020
The European Commission had designated Galway as European Capital of Culture for 2020, a process begun—and planned for—years in advance. Following the Taoiseach's Washington announcement, which closed all cultural institutions until 29 March, the organisers of Galway 2020 announced that some of its upcoming events were cancelled, though most would be postponed. By 24 March, RTÉ reported that the entire year's itinerary was "in serious jeopardy". On 7 April, RTÉ reported that a teleconference that morning had revealed that most staff had been temporarily laid off and that the Creative Director for Galway 2020's contract had been brought to an end. By 10 April, The Art Newspaper reported that the year's entire programme had "essentially been abandoned".Literature
Cork International Poetry Festival—scheduled for between 24 and 28 March—was cancelled. On 11 March, Dún Laoghaire's Mountains to Sea literary festival—scheduled for between 26 and 29 March—announced its 2020 event had been cancelled due to the virus. On 23 March, International Literature Festival Dublin—an annual literary festival scheduled for between 15 and 24 May—announced its postponement until later in the year and promised refunds to anyone who had purchased tickets for two events it had already announced involving Hilary Mantel and Bob Geldof, if these events did not go ahead at a later time. Listowel Writers' Week, in what would have been its fiftieth annual event and scheduled for between 27 and 31 May, was also cancelled due to the virus. On 30 March, the organisers of Galway city's main literary festival, the annual Cúirt International Festival of Literature—scheduled for between 20 and 25 April—announced it would not proceed "in its physical form" in 2020 due to problems created by the pandemic shutdown and the grounding of invited foreign writers abroad; however, only a small selection of the advertised events were officially "postponed" and full ticket refunds were offered. On 6 April, Cúirt announced it would be holding the world's first completely digital literary festival between 23 and 25 April, with events to be held at traditional venues such as the Town Hall Theatre, Nun's Island and Charlie Byrne's Bookshop, and broadcast for free through YouTube. The annual Dalkey Book Festival—scheduled for between 18 and 21 June—announced its 2020 event had been postponed due to the virus.Music
All events at the National Concert Hall were cancelled. The annual Feis Ceoil was cancelled. Music for Galway cancelled its annual Good Friday concert in the St Nicholas Collegiate Church, scheduled for 3 April, and its new nine-day Cellissimo festival dedicated to the cello was postponed until 2021. On 20 March, it was announced that the 2020 Fleadh Cheoil, due to have taken place in Mullingar in August, would be cancelled. The Irish Music Rights Organisation, the Irish Recorded Music Association, and First Music Contact launched a joint emergency relief fund, with the support of Spotify's global relief fund, for Irish musicians whose livelihoods were affected. 22 April brought the cancellation of the 2020 Longitude Festival, due to have taken place at Marlay Park, Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown at the beginning of July. 11 May brought the cancellation of the 2020 Electric Picnic festival, due to have taken place in County Laois at the beginning of September.On 10 May 2021, the 2021 Longitude Festival was cancelled for the second year in a row due to COVID-19 concerns.
On 28 May, following the government's announcement of a reopening plan for the country throughout June, July and August 2021, Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media Catherine Martin announced a series of pilot events to bring live music and culture back to Irish audiences. On 10 June, the first in a series of live pilot concerts took place at the Iveagh Gardens, Dublin, with James Vincent McMorrow and special guest Sorcha Richardson playing to 500 people at the show. A number of measures were implemented to ensure the safety of those attending the show, including staggered access times, socially distanced queuing systems, hygiene stations, socially distanced pods for attendees and the wearing of masks when outside the pod.
On 3 July, over 3,500 people attended a pilot music festival featuring Gavin James, Denise Chaila and Sharon Shannon in Dublin, with antigen testing used for entry.
On 2 August, Festival Republic, which runs the Electric Picnic festival, said that the 2021 festival in Stradbally, County Laois would go ahead for fully vaccinated or COVID-19 recovered people. On 4 August, Laois County Council refused to grant a licence to hold the 2021 Electric Picnic music festival following the most up-to-date public health advice made available to the council from the Health Service Executive. After the organisers requested Laois County Council to reverse the decision on the festival being cancelled, Electric Picnic 2021 was officially cancelled by the organisers after "running out of time".
On 23 August, music industry representatives criticised the Government after 40,000 people were allowed to attend the 2021 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Final at Croke Park on 22 August, while the live entertainment industry remained closed, with representatives from a number of live event and music industry groups stating that the Taoiseach and Foreign Affairs Minister's attendance at the final was a "blatant disregard" for the live events industry.
On 30 September, a pilot nightclub event took place at the Button Factory in Dublin, which included a 60% capacity crowd of 450 people, vaccination certificates and antigen testing. The next day, it was revealed that no positive COVID-19 tests were reported at the pilot nightclub event, with the promotors stating they felt it was very successful.
On 19 October, the Government published a revised plan for the easing of restrictions on 22 October, with nightclubs allowed to reopen with a Digital COVID Certificate to be required for entry, along with social distancing and mask-wearing measures, until at least February 2022. On 22 October, nightclubs and late venues reopened after almost 600 days of closure, as new guidelines were published. On 26 October, following a series of meetings between Government officials and industry representatives, new rules for nightclubs were confirmed that would require people to buy electronic tickets at least one hour before arriving at the venue from Friday 29 October.
On 3 December, as part of the Government's reintroduction of measures, all nightclubs were to close from 7 December amid concerns of the Omicron variant.
On 21 January 2022, Taoiseach Micheál Martin announced the easing of almost all COVID-19 restrictions, with nightclubs to reopen with no social distancing or vaccine certificates requirements.
On 23 April, the first full-capacity concert at Croke Park since the COVID-19 pandemic took place, with Ed Sheeran kicking off his world tour singing for over 80,000 fans.