A wedding planner has criticised the ongoing coronavirus restrictions as not being "fair or consistent" for couples planning to get married soon.
Sharon Griffin, creative director and owner of Frog Prince Weddings, says there's no "so much uncertainty" for those planning a wedding due to phase four of the reopening plan being delayed until next month.
The Government yesterday confirmed the country won't move to phase four as planned on Monday - meaning pubs which don't serve food will remain closed for now.
It also means indoor gatherings will remain limited to 50 people and outdoor gatherings to 200 people until August 10th.
Ms Griffin told Newstalk Breakfast that she's 'disappointed and upset' for all the couples impacted by yesterday's decision.
She said: "Lots of couples who had moved their weddings from earlier this year to next year brought it back into August.
"I just think it's so much uncertainty again. I feel it is beyond confusing. There is no sign of good leadership - it doesn't seem to be fair or consistent."
She noted the limitations remain here despite the Government preparing to publish a list of countries deemed safe to travel early next week.
Ms Griffin observed: "You're packing 200 people into a tiny little space [on a plane]... but you can't go into a cathedral that holds 1,000 people and have 100 people present. It just doesn't make any sense.
"I do understand it's a pandemic. I do understand we have to be safe. But you need to look at the capacity in these different venues.
"Sitting beside someone for three hours at a dinner table... how is that more unsafe than travelling abroad with random strangers?"
'My heart goes out to anyone planning a wedding'
Reacting to Ms Griffin's comments, Higher Education Minister Simon Harris told Newstalk Breakfast that "nothing is fair" about the coronavirus.
He observed: "My heart goes out to anyone planning a wedding or any publican... this is really tough on people.
"But this pandemic has always been really tough, and if we start deviating and picking and choosing the public health advice to suit our political needs we will end up in a very bad place."
He said both the current Government and the previous one have said they'd follow public health advice.
Minister Harris observed: "We put in place a roadmap that we said could be sped up when our public health experts said it was safe to do so... but could also be slowed down when they believed that was the case.
"We still are doing very well compared to many European countries. However, we have seen a couple of concerning signs in recent weeks.
"Now is not the time to go ahead with the next phase."
