DUBLIN: Large-scale events will remain banned in Ireland until the end of August as part an effort to tackle the coronavirus, the government said on Tuesday.
Local authorities have been told that “events requiring licenses in excess of 5,000 (people) will not be considered for the period up to the end of August,” according to a statement from the prime minister’s office.
Under Irish regulations, outdoor gatherings of more than 5,000 must be licensed in consultation with local government, police and the Health Services Executive (HSE).
Ireland is currently under a general lockdown, banning non-essential travel and businesses from operating until May.
The Republic’s chief medical officer Tony Holohan said last week the nation had “flattened the curve” of the spread, saying a peak in cases is no longer expected.
However, the government has indicated that restrictions are likely to be lifted in stages after May 5.
Earlier on Tuesday, Ireland’s finance ministry predicted that GDP would slide by 10.5 percent this year as a result of the COVID-19 crisis.
“The Irish economic landscape, in common with elsewhere, has been turned on its head in recent weeks,” said finance minister Pascal Donohoe in a statement.
There have been 687 confirmed deaths in Ireland as a result of the virus, according to figures from the department of health on Monday.
Ireland bans large gatherings until end of August
https://arab.news/4zq5f
Ireland bans large gatherings until end of August
- Outdoor gatherings of more than 5,000 must be licensed in consultation with local government
- Ireland is currently under a general lockdown
France’s Le Pen insists party acted in ‘good faith’ at EU fraud appeal
- Le Pen said on her second day of questioning that even if her party broke the law, it was unintentional
- She also argued that the passage of time made it “extremely difficult” for her to prove her innocence
PARIS: French far-right leader Marine Le Pen told an appeals trial on Wednesday that her party acted in “good faith,” denying an effort to embezzle European Parliament funds as she fights to keep her 2027 presidential bid alive.
A French court last year barred Le Pen, a three-time presidential candidate from the far-right National Rally (RN), from running for office for five years over a fake jobs scam at the European institution.
It found her, along with 24 former European Parliament lawmakers, assistants and accountants as well as the party itself, guilty of operating a “system” from 2004 to 2016 using European Parliament funds to employ party staff in France.
Le Pen — who on Tuesday rejected the idea of an organized scheme — said on her second day of questioning that even if her party broke the law, it was unintentional.
“We were acting in complete good faith,” she said in the dock on Wednesday.
“We can undoubtedly be criticized,” the 57-year-old said, shifting instead the blame to the legislature’s alleged lack of information and oversight.
“The European Parliament’s administration was much more lenient than it is today,” she said.
Le Pen also argued that the passage of time made it “extremely difficult” for her to prove her innocence.
“I don’t know how to prove to you what I can’t prove to you, what I have to prove to you,” she told the court.
Eleven others and the party are also appealing in a trial to last until mid-February, with a decision expected this summer.
- Rules were ‘clear’ -
Le Pen was also handed a four-year prison sentence, with two years suspended, and fined 100,000 euros ($116,000) in the initial trial.
She now again risks the maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a one-million-euro ($1.16 million) fine if the appeal fails.
Le Pen is hoping to be acquitted — or at least for a shorter election ban and no time under house arrest.
On Tuesday, Le Pen pushed back against the argument that there was an organized operation to funnel EU funds to the far-right party.
“The term ‘system’ bothers me because it gives the impression of manipulation,” she said.
EU Parliament official Didier Klethi last week said the legislature’s rules were “clear.”
EU lawmakers could employ assistants, who were allowed to engage in political activism, but this was forbidden “during working hours,” he said.
If the court upholds the first ruling, Le Pen will be prevented from running in the 2027 election, widely seen as her best chance to win the country’s top job.
She made it to the second round in the 2017 and 2022 presidential polls, before losing to Emmanuel Macron. But he cannot run this time after two consecutive terms in office.
