A REOPENING DATE IS NOW IRRELEVANT - ITS NOW ABOUT A RESCUE PACKAGE

19 November 2020

A REOPENING DATE IS NOW IRRELEVANT - ITS NOW ABOUT A RESCUE PACKAGE

Speaking after the announcement of the latest set of decisions by the NI Executive this evening, Colin Neill, Chief Executive, Hospitality Ulster said:

 

“A reopening date is now irrelevant, it’s now about a rescue package!”

 

“65,000 people in the hospitality industry are now looking to the Executive tonight to save their jobs and livelihoods. This is no longer about a date, this is now about a multi-million pound emergency rescue package. The sector now faces disaster.”

 

“All trust in the Executive by the hospitality sector has been wiped away. We were told that Christmas trading would be saved, that is now gone. There is a huge amount of anger right across the hospitality industry. We have been left with no trade, no hope and a huge amount of redundancies on our hands.”  

 

“The government now has the ultimate responsibility for funding this extended enforced lockdown and not at some paltry level, but an actual financial package that proves that the Government wants to save jobs. So far we have had no indication that this is the case.”  

 

“We now expect to meet with the Health Minister, Chief Medical Officer and the Chief Scientific Adviser tomorrow for an urgent meeting with the hospitality industry steering group to start the process of working a way out of this awful situation.”