NI hospitality sector furious and accuses Executive of breaking promises over lockdown restrictions

Chief Executive of industry group Hospitality Ulster, Colin Neill, gave his reaction to the confirmation that Northern Ireland’s hospitality sector cannot reopen until December 11 at the earliest.

Mr. Neill described any potential date businesses could reopen on as “irrelevant” and demanded Stormont ministers work to deliver what he described as a “rescue package” for up 65,000 people who work in Northern Ireland’s hospitality sector.

“A reopening date is now irrelevant, it’s now about a rescue package,” said Mr. Neill.

“65,000 people in the hospitality industry are now looking to the Executive tonight to save their jobs and livelihoods. This is no longer about a date, this is now about a multi-million pound emergency rescue package. The sector now faces disaster.”

Mr. Neill added: “All trust in the Executive by the hospitality sector has been wiped away. We were told that Christmas trading would be saved, that is now gone. There is a huge amount of anger right across the hospitality industry. We have been left with no trade, no hope and a huge amount of redundancies on our hands.”

“The government now has the ultimate responsibility for funding this extended enforced lockdown and not at some paltry level, but an actual financial package that proves that the Government wants to save jobs. So far we have had no indication that this is the case.”

“We now expect to meet with the Health Minister, Chief Medical Officer and the Chief Scientific Adviser tomorrow for an urgent meeting with the hospitality industry steering group to start the process of working a way out of this awful situation.”

The new restrictions will cover two weeks from November 27 until December 11.

Those businesses planning to open today under the current restrictions can do so, but will have to close again next Friday.