Outdoor pints are here to stay.

Cabinet is set to extend laws allowing alcohol to be served at outdoor seating areas by six months.

The legislation was introduced during the pandemic and is due to lapse on May 31st.

Justice Minister Helen McEntee will this morning ask Cabinet to extend it until the end of November.

Minister McEntee also plans to put in place a longer-term solution as part of an overall reform of licencing laws which could come forward before the summer.

The legislation applies to outdoor seating area on public land or on private land adjoined to a licenced premises.

It comes after the Minister for Housing and Local Government Darragh O’Brien last week paused council fees on outdoor furniture for the rest of the summer.

With reporting from Sean Defoe.