The owner of a restaurant in Dublin city centre says she will not open again until she can trade with certainty.
Gina Murphy, owner of Hugo's on Merrion Row, was speaking as the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS) is to be re-opened for businesses that record a loss in turnover of 30% or more.
Meanwhile, the COVID Restrictions Support Scheme (CRSS) will be available to all hospitality businesses that are closing due to the new restrictions.
It is also open to those who remain open if their turnover is less than 40% of what it was in 2019.
She told The Hard Shoulder she welcomes the new supports, but it won't help her open her doors.
"It was a big relief when I heard that - it won't be for me, but for some businesses - that they can trade up to 40%.
"For me, for my business, doors closed and restaurant empty by 8 o'clock isn't viable.
"I had to make the decision that I will be closing after lunch on Christmas Eve, and we won't be re-opening until restrictions are such that we can trade properly.
"If we even look at, maybe, something down the line of maybe doing Friday or Saturday night or something like that.
"But... we're dealing in perishable goods - it's just not as straight forward as other areas of the economy".
'We need people back in the city'
She says a lack of a lunch trade means later sittings, with an 8.00pm closure, are not viable.
"We need people back in the city - everybody working from home has collapsed our lunch trade.
"And having to have an empty restaurant by 8 o'clock doesn't give us scope for a proper sitting at night time.
"Last night was our first night doing it, and at 8 o'clock people were still wolfing down the last of the dessert or the cheeseboard or the coffee - and gulping it down so we could empty the place.
"It's just not viable".
'Could you be a worse person?'
And she says she does not want to keep opening if it means putting the business in jeopardy.
"There's been enough tears in my place in the last few days, behind closed doors. We're destroyed, we're in pieces over this.
"For us, for me, the responsibility for me is to my staff.
"And I can't tell you how horrible I feel to have to let people go on Christmas Eve - could you be a worse person?
"It's just horrible."
She adds: "I want to get open as soon as possible, I need to get people back to work.
"I will do whatever it takes to do that, but I also have a responsibility to them by running a viable business.
"There's no point in me trading, and putting the business into jeopardy, so that their jobs are not secure".
