Republic of Ireland adds 15 countries to travel 'green list'

Taoiseach Micheál Martin arriving at the Irish cabinet meeting on Tuesday

The Republic of Ireland has released a "green list" of 15 countries, excluding Great Britain and the US, that travellers can go to and not self-isolate on their return.

The 15 countries are Malta, Finland, Norway, Italy, Hungary, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Cyprus, Slovakia, Greece, Greenland, Gibraltar, Monaco and San Marino.

The list is reviewed every fortnight.

The advice to avoid non-essential travel applies to all other countries.

This is based on advice from officials, including public health experts.

At present, travellers arriving in the Republic of Ireland from anywhere other than Northern Ireland are required to self-isolate and restrict their movements for 14 days.

In July the Stormont Executive agreed changes to its quarantine rules, meaning people arriving into NI from more than 50 countries no longer need to self-isolate on arrival.

Speaking in the Dáil on Tuesday afternoon, Taoiseach (Irish PM) Micheál Martin said he would take a "cautious approach" on foreign travel.

Irish broadcaster RTÉ reported that the Tánaiste (deputy prime minister) Leo Varadkar had questioned whether a green list of countries should be published at all, if the official advice against all non-essential travel is to remain in place.

A spokesperson for Mr Varadkar said he believed it was wrong to send out mixed messages about international travel.

'50,000 people a week leaving the country'

The Irish cabinet met late into the night at Dublin Castle on Tuesday, with news of the list emerging just before midnight.

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In a statement the Irish government said: "Anyone arriving into Ireland from these countries will not have to restrict their movements. Passengers from any other country outside of those with a Normal Precautions advisory are asked to restrict their movements for 14 days."

"There is no change to the current policy in respect of travel from Northern Ireland," according to the statement.

It added that it will "continue with plans to strengthen the existing measures for monitoring passengers who arrive into Ireland, including the introduction of an Electronic Passenger Locator Form, enhanced follow-up procedures, a call centre operated by the Dublin Airport Authority, and a proposed testing regime for symptomatic passengers at airports and ports".

Processes to restrict flight or passenger travel in certain circumstances will also be explored.