gardaí in castletroy, limerick shut down 35 student house parties, arrested 5 people for public order offences and trespassing offences, and issued 30 anti-social behaviour warnings and 70 on the spot ticket fines; 45 for alcohol consumption; 25 for illegal parking. 4 october – in a letter sent to the government, the nphet recommended the highest level of restrictions for the entire country – level 5 for four weeks, following an unscheduled meeting chaired by chief medical officer tony holohan. 5 october the government rejected the nphet's recommendation to place the entire country under level 5 restrictions, and instead moved every county in ireland to level 3 covid-19 restrictions with improved enforcement and indoor dining in pubs and restaurants banned, which would come into effect from the midnight of 6 october until 27 october at the earliest. speaking on rté's claire byrne live, tánaiste leo varadkar stated that the recommendation from nphet to move to level 5 "hadn't been thought through and there hadn't been prior consultation". 6 october large-scale garda checkpoints were mounted across the entire country as operation fanacht recommenced following the imposition of level 3 restrictions. 31 positive cases of covid-19 were confirmed in a nursing home in portlaoise, county laois with 21 cases among residents and 10 cases among staff. 8 october after a review on the basis of data from the ecdc, the department of foreign affairs confirmed that from 12 october, there would be no countries on the government's travel green list. 9 october – university college cork confirmed several cases of covid-19 amongst students in a ucc-run student accommodation. 10 october – two men were arrested after a total of 250 demonstrators attended an anti-lockdown protest organised by the national party outside leinster house in dublin. 14 october the government agreed a nationwide ban on all household visits from the night of thursday 15 october, except for essential reasons such as childcare and on compassionate grounds. taoiseach micheál martin announced that counties cavan, donegal and monaghan would move to level 4 restrictions from the midnight of 15 october until 10 november. under level 4 restrictions: no visitors to private homes or social gatherings would be allowed. up to 6 guests could attend a wedding ceremony and reception. all gyms, leisure centres, swimming pools, museums, galleries and other non-essential businesses and services would be closed. up to 25 mourners could attend funerals. restaurants, bars and cafés could only open for takeaway and delivery. 16 october – the nphet recommended to the government to move the entire country to level 5 restrictions for six weeks. 19 october – the government agreed to move the entire country to level 5 lockdown restrictions from midnight on wednesday 21 october for six weeks until 1 december. under level 5 restrictions: people must stay at home. people would be permitted to exercise within a radius of 5 km of their home. non-essential businesses and services would close. public transport would operate at 25% capacity for the purposes of allowing those providing essential services to get to work. pubs, cafés and restaurants may provide takeaway and delivery services only. schools, early learning and childcare services would continue to remain open. there should be no organised indoor or outdoor events. 20 october – the government agreed to give gardaí new powers to fine people €1,000 who hold house parties and up to €500 who breach travel restrictions following the imposition of level 5 restrictions. 22 october the government agreed to align ireland with the new european 'traffic light' system to coordinate international covid-19 travel restrictions coming into force on sunday 8 november. the garda síochána began a major high visibility policing operation to support the new public health restrictions to curb the spread of covid-19 with over 2,500 gardaí deployed every day on 132 static and mobile checkpoints nationwide, as operation fanacht recommenced. schools nationwide were told to stop using virapro cleaning products and hand sanitisers, as they were being recalled because they contained methanol instead of ethanol. 31 october – a further 416 cases and 5 deaths were reported, bringing the totals to 61,456 cases and 1,913 deaths. 19 previously notified cases were de-notified. november 2020 7 november – minister for transport eamon ryan announced that anyone arriving into ireland from denmark would have to restrict their movements for 14 days over concerns of a new strain of coronavirus that emerged in danish mink farms. 8 november the government was criticised for a lack of clarity on what covid-19 restrictions would apply at christmas after the chair of the irish epidemiological modelling advisory group philip nolan warned that strict limits would be needed on christmas gatherings. the eu's traffic light system for air travel came into operation in ireland from midnight, with the european centre for disease prevention and control publishing a three-stage colour system map every week to indicate the level of risk in each area of the eu. 15 november – furious reactions emerged on social media after hundreds of people, in breach of level 5 covid-19 restrictions, gathered drinking takeaway pints on the streets of dublin city centre on the night of 14 november. 19 november – the ecdc moved ireland from 'red' to 'orange' on the eu traffic light map for international travel after covid-19 figures improved. 20 november – rté's top news presenters apologised after being present at a gathering in montrose where social distancing was not fully observed and presenters posed for photographs. 22 november – nine males were arrested in connection with a series of minor public order incidents in cork after footage circulated on social media showing large groups of people without masks and not adhering to social distancing regulations in the city centre on the night of 21 november. 26 november – the nphet recommended to the government that restaurants and pubs should only be allowed to offer takeaway and delivery service for the entire christmas period. 27 november – the government agreed the approach for easing restrictions, including a phased move to level 3 restrictions nationally from midnight on tuesday 1 december, with a number of exceptions in place for the christmas period from 18 december. from 1 december: non-essential retail, hairdressers, gyms, leisure centres, museums, galleries, libraries, cinemas and places of worship would reopen. households should not mix with any other households outside those within their bubble. people should stay within their county apart from work, education and other essential purposes. face coverings would be recommended to be worn in crowded workplaces, places of worship and in busy or crowded outdoor spaces where there is significant congregation. from 4 december: restaurants, gastropubs and hotel restaurants may reopen for indoor dining with additional restrictions. pubs not serving food would remain closed except for takeaway and delivery. from 18 december to 6 january 2021: households could mix with up to two other households. travel outside your county to be permitted. 30 november – a further 306 cases and 1 death were reported, bringing the totals to 72,544 cases and 2,053 deaths. 3 previously notified cases were de-notified. december 2020 1 december all non-essential retail shops, hair and beauty providers, gyms and leisure centres, cinemas, museums and galleries reopened after six weeks of closure. the government approved an advance purchase agreement for 875,000 doses of the covid-19 vaccine produced by moderna. 4 december – thousands of restaurants, cafés, gastropubs and hotel restaurants reopened after six weeks of closure. 15 december – minister for health stephen donnelly announced the government's national covid-19 vaccination strategy, which outlined the country's high-level plan for safe, effective and efficient vaccination of the republic of ireland, while safeguarding continued provision of health and social care services. 17 december – the nphet recommended to the government that the period of relaxed covid-19 restrictions from 18 december be shortened to the end of the year as covid-19 cases rise. 18 december chief medical officer tony holohan warned that ireland must take immediate action to stop the spread of covid-19 over the christmas period. 20 december the government agreed to impose a 48-hour suspension on flights from the united kingdom from midnight following fears over the spread of a new strain of covid-19, while ferries would be limited to freight travel. gardaí broke up an organised "car meet" of 800 people in more than 250 cars that breached covid-19 regulations on the night of 19 december in little island, county cork. 21 december – speaking at a covid-19 press briefing, the chair of the nphet irish epidemiological modelling advisory group philip nolan announced that a third wave of covid-19 in ireland was clearly underway. 22 december – the government agreed to move the entire country to level 5 lockdown restrictions with a number of adjustments from christmas eve until 12 january 2021 at the earliest. under level 5 restrictions: restaurants and gastro-pubs must close at 3pm on 24 december (christmas eve). hotels may provide food and bar services to guests only after 3pm on christmas eve. hotels may only open to guests for essential purposes after 26 december. up until 26 december (st stephen's day), visits from up to two other households will be permitted. household visits would be reduced to one other household from 27 december. from 1 january, no household mixing would be allowed except for compassionate, care or childcare reasons. non-essential retail would remain open but shops would be requested to defer january sales events. no new inter-county travel would be allowed after 26 december. personal services, including hairdressers and barbers must close. gyms, leisure centres and swimming pools would remain open for individual training only. travel restrictions from the united kingdom would remain in place until 31 december. 23 december nphet announced that the new variant of covid-19 in the united kingdom was now present in the republic of ireland, based on a selection of samples analysed from the weekend. all ministers in the government began restricting their movements after it was announced that minister for agriculture, food and the marine charlie mcconalogue tested positive for covid-19. 24 december – restaurants, cafés, gastropubs, hairdressers, barbers and beauty salons closed again as level 5 lockdown restrictions came into effect. 26 december – the first shipment of 10,000 pfizer/biontech covid-19 vaccines arrived in the republic of ireland. 27 december – a ban on inter-county travel and family gathering restrictions came into effect from midnight following the reintroduction of level 5 restrictions. 29 december – ireland's covid-19 vaccination programme commenced as a 79-year-old woman became the first person in the country to receive the pfizer/biontech covid-19 vaccine at st. james's hospital, dublin. 30 december – the government agreed to move the entire country to full level 5 lockdown restrictions from midnight until 31 january 2021 at the earliest. under additional level 5 restrictions: all schools to remain closed after the christmas break until 11 january 2021. childcare facilities and crèches to remain open. all non-essential retail and services must close from 6pm on 31 december. people must stay at home except for work, education or other essential purposes, and will be allowed to exercise within 5 km of home. 31 december – a further 1,620 cases (including 2 probable cases) and 12 deaths were reported, bringing the totals to 91,779 cases and 2,237 deaths. 1 previously notified death was de-notified.