Anyone crossing the border from Northern Ireland into Ireland will be fined €100 if they don't have a reasonable excuse.
The coronavirus vaccine rollout is proceeding at pace throughout the UK and Ireland, and local lockdowns have helped to slow the rate of spread of the virus considerably. It could be some time before enough people are vaccinated that restrictions can be significantly relaxed, and until then the rules will have to be enforced.
Ireland has seen a massive spike in cases in the past two months, going from one the lowest infection rates in europe before Christmas to the most infected country by far just a few weeks later. The surge has been blamed on relaxed rules over Christmas and the new faster-spreading UK variant of Covid-19.
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Ireland is now enforcing regional lockdowns with harsh fines, and that applies to citizens from Northern Ireland too. From 7AM today, anyone found crossing the border into Ireland without a 'reasonable excuse' will be fined €100. The fines apply to anyone who is not 'ordinarily resident' in the Republic of Ireland, including visitors and those on non-essential business.
Gardai have been cracking down heavily on house parties and people engaging in non-essential travel in recent days, bringing the total number of Covid-19 related fines up to over 4,600 already. Around 375 people have been fined at Dublin Airport for leaving the country for non-essential reasons.
Source: Belfast Live