London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Monday, Oct 20, 2025

Ireland tells travelers from Britain they must eat Christmas dinner in their room

Ireland tells travelers from Britain they must eat Christmas dinner in their room

Prime Minister Micheál Martin acknowledges two-week isolation requirement will be ‘very difficult.’
Ireland expects recently arrived visitors from Britain to celebrate Christmas and New Year’s Eve in confinement in their bedroom.

The Health Service Executive of Ireland says the tougher rules updated Wednesday are designed to prevent the spread of a highly infectious coronavirus variant already prevalent in parts of England.

Anyone arriving from Britain since December 8 must self-isolate for 14 days. “Stay in your room as much as possible and do not go outside for anything,” the advice reads.

Colm Henry, the HSE’s chief clinical officer, said this means any arrival from December 11 onward would be expected to have Christmas dinner in their own room, not at the dining table with relatives. The same prohibition on attending New Year’s Eve celebrations would apply to anyone arriving from Britain since December 17.

The rules apply to all visitors from Britain, including Irish citizens who normally live and work in England, Scotland or Wales but return to family in Ireland each Christmas.

In a typical yuletide season, nine-tenths of the more than 300,000 Irish citizens living in Britain visit family in Ireland. This year, only a small fraction of that number has traveled across the Irish Sea — a flow officially halted Monday as Ireland joined several EU members in stopping passenger traffic from Britain.

Prime Minister Micheál Martin said this two-week isolation requirement would be “very difficult for people, very severe.”

“But because of this new mutant train of the virus, which has led to rapidly growing numbers of cases in the U.K. and in my view here as well in the last week, we can’t take any chances,” Martin said.

Fundamentally, however, the new regulations suffer from logistical loopholes and weak enforcement. Those violating the 14-day isolation rule are unlikely to face legal sanctions, unless they draw attention from police when in public.

Thousands of people intent on traveling from Britain to the Republic of Ireland this week shifted their flights to the neighboring U.K. region of Northern Ireland, which decided Monday to keep flights flowing.

Authorities are imposing no physical travel restrictions along the 500-kilometer border separating the two parts of Ireland. This has left holidaymakers free to land in the north and travel south by road or rail.

Authorities in both jurisdictions are advising people not to travel outside of their county from December 26 onward, but Northern Ireland is imposing no sanctions on intra-county and cross-border travel.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Windows’ Own ‘Siri’ Has Arrived: You Can Now Talk to Your Computer
Thailand and Singapore Investigate Cambodian-Based Prince Group as U.S. and U.K. Sanctions Unfold
‘No Kings’ Protests Inflate Numbers — But History Shows Nations Collapse Without Strong Executive Power
Chinese Tech Giants Halt Stablecoin Launches After Beijing’s Regulatory Intervention
Manhattan Jury Holds BNP Paribas Liable for Enabling Sudanese Government Abuses
Trump Orders Immediate Release of Former Congressman George Santos After Commuting Prison Sentence
S&P Downgrades France’s Credit Rating, Citing Soaring Debt and Political Instability
Ofcom Rules BBC’s Gaza Documentary ‘Materially Misleading’ Over Narrator’s Hamas Ties
Diane Keaton’s Cause of Death Revealed as Pneumonia, Family Confirms
Former Lostprophets Frontman Ian Watkins Stabbed to Death in British Prison
"The Tsunami Is Coming, and It’s Massive": The World’s Richest Man Unveils a New AI Vision
Outsider, Heroine, Trailblazer: Diane Keaton Was Always a Little Strange — and Forever One of a Kind
Dramatic Development in the Death of 'Mango' Founder: Billionaire's Son Suspected of Murder
Two Years of Darkness: The Harrowing Testimonies of Israeli Hostages Emerging From Gaza Captivity
EU Moves to Use Frozen Russian Assets to Buy U.S. Weapons for Ukraine
Europe Emerges as the Biggest Casualty in U.S.-China Rare Earth Rivalry
HSBC Confronts Strategic Crossroads as NAB Seeks Only Retail Arm in Australia Exit
U.S. Chamber Sues Trump Over $100,000 H-1B Visa Fee
Shenzhen Expo Spotlights China’s Quantum Step in Semiconductor Self-Reliance
China Accelerates to the Forefront in Global Nuclear Fusion Race
Yachts, Private Jets, and a Picasso Painting: Exposed as 'One of the Largest Frauds in History'
Australia’s Wedgetail Spies Aid NATO Response as Russian MiGs Breach Estonian Airspace
McGowan Urges Chalmers to Cut Spending Over Tax Hike to Close $20 Billion Budget Gap
Victoria Orders Review of Transgender Prison Placement Amid Safety Concerns for Female Inmates
U.S. Treasury Mobilises New $20 Billion Debt Facility to Stabilise Argentina
French Business Leaders Decry Budget as Macron’s Pro-Enterprise Promise Undermined
Trump Claims Modi Pledged India Would End Russian Oil Imports Amid U.S. Tariff Pressure
Surging AI Startup Valuations Fuel Bubble Concerns Among Top Investors
Australian Punter Archie Wilson Tears Up During Nebraska Press Conference, Sparking Conversation on Male Vulnerability
Australia Confirms U.S. Access to Upgraded Submarine Shipyard Under AUKUS Deal
“Firepower” Promised for Ukraine as NATO Ministers Meet — But U.S. Tomahawks Remain Undecided
Brands Confront New Dilemma as Extremists Adopt Fashion Labels
The Sydney Sweeney and Jeans Storm: “The Outcome Surpassed Our Wildest Dreams”
Erika Kirk Delivers Moving Tribute at White House as Trump Awards Charlie Presidential Medal of Freedom
British Food Influencer ‘Big John’ Detained in Australia After Visa Dispute
ScamBodia: The Chinese Fraud Empire Shielded by Cambodia’s Ruling Elite
French PM Suspends Macron’s Pension Reform Until After 2027 in Bid to Stabilize Government
Orange, Bouygues and Free Make €17 Billion Bid for Drahi’s Altice France Telecom Assets
Dutch Government Seizes Chipmaker After U.S. Presses for Removal of Chinese CEO
Bessent Accuses China of Dragging Down Global Economy Amid New Trade Curbs
U.S. Revokes Visas of Foreign Nationals Who ‘Celebrated’ Charlie Kirk’s Assassination
AI and Cybersecurity at Forefront as GITEX Global 2025 Kicks Off in Dubai
DJI Loses Appeal to Remove Pentagon’s ‘Chinese Military Company’ Label
EU Deploys New Biometric Entry/Exit System: What Non-EU Travelers Must Know
Australian Prime Minister’s Private Number Exposed Through AI Contact Scraper
Ex-Microsoft Engineer Confirms Famous Windows XP Key Was Leaked Corporate License, Not a Hack
China’s lesson for the US: it takes more than chips to win the AI race
Australia Faces Demographic Risk as Fertility Falls to Record Low
California County Reinstates Mask Mandate in Health Facilities as Respiratory Illness Risk Rises
Israel and Hamas Agree to First Phase of Trump-Brokered Gaza Truce, Hostages to Be Freed
×