By Lucy Ashton
Travel to Ireland from Scotland will be “much easier” from July 19th as people who have been fully vaccinated will not have to quarantine at home, Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan has said.
The date coincides with the planned implementation of the EU’s Digital Covid Certificate to allow travel within the EU for people who have been fully vaccinated, have recovered from Covid-19 within six months or have a negative test result prior to their trip.
Since the UK has left the EU it is not using the same certification system.
However, Mr Ryan said that the rules for people travelling to the State from Britain will be eased on July 19th as well.
At present most people travelling from the UK have to undertake to spend 14-days quarantining at an address they specify on a passenger locator form.
In remarks reported by RTÉ News and the Irish Times, Mr Ryan said that from July 19th vaccinated people who travel here from the UK won’t have to quarantine.
“For others who don’t have the vaccination they will have to continue to abide by the home quarantine and we will continue to review that,” he said.
“We did strengthen regulations in recent weeks because of concern about the Delta variant. Because that’s here now as well as in the UK it’s not as significant.
“That was done to try and delay and hold back the arrival of the Delta variant here. So I think travel with the UK will become much easier particularly for those who are vaccinated from the 19th,” he added.
Mr Ryan said he was “confident” that the system will be in place for the operation of the EU’s Digital Covid Certs and “working well” by July 19th.
Time for a pint in Dublin’s Fair City without quarantine when you get home. Picture by Bill Heaney