Ireland may introduce 14-day quarantine for anyone entering the country

Ireland may force people to isolate for 14 days after arriving in the country as part of tougher coronavirus measures, Prime Minister Leo Varadkar has said.

The new legally-enforceable system would replace the current system where a 14-day quarantine is only advised. 

It comes after Boris Johnson announced similar rules for the UK, expected to come into force next month.   

‘We may need to tighten it up a bit because at the moment it is advisory, it is not enforceable by the law,’ Varadkar told Today FM radio.

Restrictions on entering Ireland would need to be in place ‘at least until we have some kind of international agreement’ on air travel, Varadkar said. 

Ireland is part of a Common Travel Area with the United Kingdom but not a member of the European Union’s Schengen free travel area.

The EU Commission is today expected to announce rules on international travel between the bloc’s 27 member states.

Measures are expected to include a relaxation of border closures that came into force as the coronavirus pandemic tore through Europe.

It is also expected to include guidance on safe ways to restart the continent’s fragile tourism economy, worth an estimated £690billion per year.

Speaking on Tuesday ahead of the announcement, the EU’s economic minister Paolo Gentiloni insisted: ‘We will definitely have a tourist season in summer.’

Any travel would have to be subject to ‘security measures and restrictions’ he added, without elaborating further.