Coronavirus: why the Republic of Ireland is going into full national lockdown

The six-week shutdown begins on Wednesday

A couple wearing face masks carry a shopping bag as they pass a temporarily closed pub in Dublin.
The six-week shutdown begins on Wednesday
(Image credit: Paul Faith/AFP via Getty Images)

Ireland is heading back into a complete lockdown after the government in Dublin rejected calls for the country to attempt to reach herd immunity.

As of Wednesday, non-essential shops will be closed and people will be asked to stay at home, as the republic closes “much of its economy and society in a second Covid-19 lockdown that imposes some of the severest restrictions in Europe”, The Guardian says.

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Joe Evans is the world news editor at TheWeek.co.uk. He joined the team in 2019 and held roles including deputy news editor and acting news editor before moving into his current position in early 2021. He is a regular panellist on The Week Unwrapped podcast, discussing politics and foreign affairs. 

Before joining The Week, he worked as a freelance journalist covering the UK and Ireland for German newspapers and magazines. A series of features on Brexit and the Irish border got him nominated for the Hostwriter Prize in 2019. Prior to settling down in London, he lived and worked in Cambodia, where he ran communications for a non-governmental organisation and worked as a journalist covering Southeast Asia. He has a master’s degree in journalism from City, University of London, and before that studied English Literature at the University of Manchester.