New limits on alcohol sales introduced as Northern Ireland goes back into lockdown

The Northern Ireland executive has announced a range of “significant time-bound” interventions to curb the spread of Covid-19. The measures will come into regulatory effect on Friday (16 October) and will be in place for a period of four weeks.

Under the new rules, off-licences and supermarkets will not be able to sell alcohol after 8pm. The new restrictions also mean the closure of the hospitality sector, apart from deliveries and takeaways for food.

Other takeaway premises across Northern Ireland will also be brought into line with hospitality and will have to close at 11pm from tomorrow.

In another measure designed to curb the spread of Covid-19 in Northern Ireland, schools will close for two weeks, including the half-term holiday, until 2 November, when the closure will be reviewed.

There are already fears that the measures will have an impact on retailing as more people are forced to stay at home.

Retail NI, which represents independent retailers across Northern Ireland, is seeking an urgent meeting with the first and deputy first minister to discuss the impact of the new measures on the retail sector.

Retail NI will raise the issue of retailers and other businesses, which are not legally required to close by the new measures, but are forced to because footfall and trade dramatically decrease as a result.

The organisation plans to ask the executive how it plans to support these retailers during the four-week lockdown. Retail NI has already that it would be opposed to a return to a full lockdown.