Ireland Covid update????

[hammergolf]

3 hours ago, Serenity Now said:

My wife and I fly to Dublin 2 weeks from Wednesday so we have both downloaded the app Veri-Fly so we will upload our test 2 days before we leave and then take another one before we fly from Belfast to Heathrow for the 2nd part of our vacation. Both have had the virus (I was sick for 2 weeks, she was positive but asymptomatic ) and both of us have been vaccinated. We just returned from 8 days on Kauai where the mask restrictions are pretty much the same as mentioned in this thread so going to grin and bear it and get thru it. Not overly concerned about testing positive upon returning to states but still going to take every precaution

I was under the impression if you were vaccinated you didn’t need a negative test to fly to Ireland. Has something changed?

[Manbearpig13]

Nothing has changed from what I can tell. Testing is not required for vaccinated US Citizens entering Ireland.

[Copacetic]

Our daily case numbers seem to have leveled off which is good, confidence growing that we will continue reopening. Vaccine take up still high. 
 

VACCINATION UPDATE

💉 >90% of adults have received at least 1 vaccine dose

💉 ~83% of adults fully vaccinated

💉 >75% of eligible population (12+) fully vaccinated

💉 6.46m vaccine doses administered to date

[SilverBullets]

My wife and I fly out in a couple of weeks and I'm trying to get everything sorted.  We heading to London on September 1 for a couple days, then to Scotland, then into Ireland.  

 

To go to England, we have to provide a negative test before departure. Here's my question:  For the Day 2 COVID test upon arrival in England, do I have to have that scheduled ahead of my arrival in England?  Or is that something I can get done once we land?

[Serenity Now]

4 hours ago, SilverBullets said:

My wife and I fly out in a couple of weeks and I'm trying to get everything sorted.  We heading to London on September 1 for a couple days, then to Scotland, then into Ireland.  

 

To go to England, we have to provide a negative test before departure. Here's my question:  For the Day 2 COVID test upon arrival in England, do I have to have that scheduled ahead of my arrival in England?  Or is that something I can get done once we land?

My wife and I fly from Belfast to London on the 5th. Our concierge told us there are testing places all over so getting that 2nd test is easy (and cheap by our standards). Once you land and get settled, you will be able to schedule it no problem

[hammergolf]

On 8/18/2021 at 1:15 PM, Copacetic said:

Our daily case numbers seem to have leveled off which is good, confidence growing that we will continue reopening. Vaccine take up still high. 
 

VACCINATION UPDATE

💉 >90% of adults have received at least 1 vaccine dose

💉 ~83% of adults fully vaccinated

💉 >75% of eligible population (12+) fully vaccinated

💉 6.46m vaccine doses administered to date

Looks like the Covid situation is either improving or not getting worse. Any updates on what the courses are doing?

Edited August 22, 2021 by hammergolf

[Copacetic]

2 hours ago, hammergolf said:

Looks like the Covid situation is either improving or not getting worse. Any updates on what the courses are doing?

There is a worry that the constant new cases at 2k or so, is gradually bringing hospital numbers up. However that is only being spoken about as a reason to keep slow progress in further reopening. Concerts, live events etc. outdoor sports are still the only big out door crowds. 
 

no changes expected with golf courses, fully normal on course for last month or so, some restrictions with locker rooms, meals etc. but all indoor dining eg. open, must have vaccine cert, must be table service only, etc as per bars and restaurant. 

[Liquid]

I got home from our Ireland golf trip 2 days ago. Border guard in Dublin was more concerned about what courses we were playing, rather than double jab/negative tests. All Dublin pubs asked for vax proof, but everywhere else never asked. We all got a PCR test done roughly 30 hours before coming home and had no issues. One annoyance was having to fill out a locater form because we landed in Heathrow for an hour and a half for the UK. Courses were awesome with Portrush/RCD/Old Head/Ballybunion/Tralee being the upper echelon. Dooks/Sligo/Enniscrone/Island/Carne all good to very good. I've been to Scotland twice and preferred Ireland. I found the golf and food a bit better and the people were very welcoming. RCD actually washed some of our rain gear from the previous day. I summed it up like this, RCD/Portrush loved to see us coming, Muirfield loved to see us leaving.

[hammergolf]

23 hours ago, Copacetic said:

There is a worry that the constant new cases at 2k or so, is gradually bringing hospital numbers up. However that is only being spoken about as a reason to keep slow progress in further reopening. Concerts, live events etc. outdoor sports are still the only big out door crowds. 
 

no changes expected with golf courses, fully normal on course for last month or so, some restrictions with locker rooms, meals etc. but all indoor dining eg. open, must have vaccine cert, must be table service only, etc as per bars and restaurant. 

Ok thx. Everyone in my group is vaccinated so we should be good there. 

[hammergolf]

21 hours ago, Liquid said:

I got home from our Ireland golf trip 2 days ago. Border guard in Dublin was more concerned about what courses we were playing, rather than double jab/negative tests. All Dublin pubs asked for vax proof, but everywhere else never asked. We all got a PCR test done roughly 30 hours before coming home and had no issues. One annoyance was having to fill out a locater form because we landed in Heathrow for an hour and a half for the UK. Courses were awesome with Portrush/RCD/Old Head/Ballybunion/Tralee being the upper echelon. Dooks/Sligo/Enniscrone/Island/Carne all good to very good. I've been to Scotland twice and preferred Ireland. I found the golf and food a bit better and the people were very welcoming. RCD actually washed some of our rain gear from the previous day. I summed it up like this, RCD/Portrush loved to see us coming, Muirfield loved to see us leaving.

Yeah, Muirfield has that effect on many. I had the worst caddie experience ever there on the first tee. But I must say, Karen (the Secretary) was very pleasant in my dealings with her for my group a few years ago.

[hammergolf]

On 8/22/2021 at 12:11 PM, Copacetic said:

There is a worry that the constant new cases at 2k or so, is gradually bringing hospital numbers up. However that is only being spoken about as a reason to keep slow progress in further reopening. Concerts, live events etc. outdoor sports are still the only big out door crowds. 
 

no changes expected with golf courses, fully normal on course for last month or so, some restrictions with locker rooms, meals etc. but all indoor dining eg. open, must have vaccine cert, must be table service only, etc as per bars and restaurant. 

Hello! How are things going over on the Emerald Isle? The guys are counting the days until we leave. Have there been any changes with covid there as far as golf, pubs, etc….

[Copacetic]

No changes, we expect some news about further reopening in the next week, but that’s just a matter of timing. Talk that when we have 90% vaccinations then we’ll drop rules on dining etc, but that’s not expected for 2-3 weeks. 

[hammergolf]

6 hours ago, Copacetic said:

No changes, we expect some news about further reopening in the next week, but that’s just a matter of timing. Talk that when we have 90% vaccinations then we’ll drop rules on dining etc, but that’s not expected for 2-3 weeks. 

Sounds great! Thx

[ND2005]

EU expected to announce restrictions on US travelers again this week…

[Copacetic]

1 hour ago, ND2005 said:

EU expected to announce restrictions on US travelers again this week…

Yes, it’s in the news here today that the US may be marked as a country of concern due to the low vaccination rate and increasing cases. No detail on what that might mean in practice, but if it goes as far as banning non essential travel that could be a problem. 
 

 

edit - reports here say it is exactly that, basically the US has never removed the ban on non essential travel from the EU when EU vaccine rates are double and cases half the rate of the US. So EU will introduce the equivalent ban again due to the increasing cases  low vaccinations and lack of reciprocity on travel ban. Would imagine there will be push back from a couple of member states to not be a full non essential ban. 

Edited August 30, 2021 by Copacetic

[jly]

1 hour ago, Copacetic said:

Yes, it’s in the news here today that the US may be marked as a country of concern due to the low vaccination rate and increasing cases. No detail on what that might mean in practice, but if it goes as far as banning non essential travel that could be a problem. 
 

 

edit - reports here say it is exactly that, basically the US has never removed the ban on non essential travel from the EU when EU vaccine rates are double and cases half the rate of the US. So EU will introduce the equivalent ban again due to the increasing cases  low vaccinations and lack of reciprocity on travel ban. Would imagine there will be push back from a couple of member states to not be a full non essential ban. 

we are scheduled to arrive on Saturday so this should be an interesting 24-48 hours…

[SilverBullets]

2 hours ago, jly said:

we are scheduled to arrive on Saturday so this should be an interesting 24-48 hours…

 

LOL I leave for London on Wednesday.... soooo this is getting even more interesting

[hammergolf]

4 hours ago, Copacetic said:

Yes, it’s in the news here today that the US may be marked as a country of concern due to the low vaccination rate and increasing cases. No detail on what that might mean in practice, but if it goes as far as banning non essential travel that could be a problem. 
 

 

edit - reports here say it is exactly that, basically the US has never removed the ban on non essential travel from the EU when EU vaccine rates are double and cases half the rate of the US. So EU will introduce the equivalent ban again due to the increasing cases  low vaccinations and lack of reciprocity on travel ban. Would imagine there will be push back from a couple of member states to not be a full non essential ban. 

It seems Ireland has been much more “ahead” of and more logical than other EU countries when it comes to reopening and covid. I’m hoping this continues with the upcoming decision. Not just to be able to make our trip, but on the science and logic. Hopefully the govt there recommends only vaccinated travelers and a negative test before our flight. Crossing our fingers logic and science win out on this on instead of politics….

[hammergolf]

40 minutes ago, SilverBullets said:

 

LOL I leave for London on Wednesday.... soooo this is getting even more interesting

Fingers crossed for you…

[hammergolf]

5 hours ago, ND2005 said:

EU expected to announce restrictions on US travelers again this week…

Seems it’s a political game because the US never lifted restrictions on EU travelers because their vaccination rate was lower. Now the EU has a higher vaccination rate than the US so they are wanting to turn the tables…. I just wish for once common sense and logic was used by govts to make decisions….. 

[hammergolf]

45 minutes ago, SilverBullets said:

 

LOL I leave for London on Wednesday.... soooo this is getting even more interesting

Well, the good news is that the UK is not a member of the EU anymore so hopefully common sense prevails.

[hammergolf]

2 hours ago, jly said:

we are scheduled to arrive on Saturday so this should be an interesting 24-48 hours…

Hoping for the best…

[Copacetic]

This is the report from Irish media, looks ok for now. 
 

Quote

The EU has recommended that member states reintroduce travel restrictions on tourists from the US due to surging Covid-19 infection rates there.

Its advice came as the EU Council today updated its ‘safe travel list’ of countries for which travel restrictions should be lifted. 

In addition to the US, it has also removed Israel, Kosovo, Lebanon, Montenegro and North Macedonia from the list.

The advice applies to unvaccinated travellers and is non-binding. It is up to individual member states as to what travel restrictions they implement.  

Currently, fully vaccinated travellers from the US may enter Ireland without any travel-related testing or quarantine, as can travellers who have recovered from Covid-19. 

 

 

 

[hammergolf]

9 minutes ago, Copacetic said:

This is the report from Irish media, looks ok for now. 
 

 

Thanks! Hopefully no changes are added.

[Serenity Now]

I’m on plane to Dublin from Philly in 48 hrs. Tee time at Portrush & Portstewart on Friday. Gonna be close!

[hammergolf]

34 minutes ago, Serenity Now said:

I’m on plane to Dublin from Philly in 48 hrs. Tee time at Portrush & Portstewart on Friday. Gonna be close!

Enjoy your trip. Report back how it goes please.

[Copacetic]

Nothing further here’s down no change  re US status as a designated country. 
 

announcement of further reopening of live events etc from next week 

 

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/taoiseach-praises-public-for-having-trust-in-science-as-reopening-plan-is-published-1.4660924

 

https://www.rte.ie/news/coronavirus/2021/0831/1243878-covid-19-ireland/

Edited August 31, 2021 by Copacetic

[Serenity Now]

Just checked in at LAX w all of our VeriFLY documents so we are all set to take off. Was stunned at how many people standing in line didn’t have their stuff together. If you do it all on VeriFLY, it’s pretty seem less. 24 hrs from now, I will be on back 9 of Royal Portrush Valley course 😎

[hammergolf]

9 hours ago, Serenity Now said:

Just checked in at LAX w all of our VeriFLY documents so we are all set to take off. Was stunned at how many people standing in line didn’t have their stuff together. If you do it all on VeriFLY, it’s pretty seem less. 24 hrs from now, I will be on back 9 of Royal Portrush Valley course 😎

Awesome! Have a GREAT trip….

[Manbearpig13]

https://www.thejournal.ie/us-tourists-travel-rules-5537188-Sep2021/

 

Article that was published today - encouraging to see that Ireland does not plan to make any changes to its current policy regarding American travelers despite the new EU recommendations (at least for now).