A Cavan publican says there's been a sense of great relief to welcome customers back to the counter in bars.
It's been a week since Taoiseach Micheál Martin announced the easing of most covid restrictions, which included scrapping the 8pm closing time and the ban on using bar counters.
Mark Murray, of Smith's Bar in Cootehill, says it's "surreal" to think about what the sector went through and added that customers love being able to order a drink at the counter for the first time in nearly two years.
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He told Northern Sound that one customer described the return to normality like "getting out of jail":
