Prestigious restaurant in Cork city announces temporary closure 

MICHELIN-listed restaurant The Glass Curtain on MacCurtain Street has closed its doors temporarily.

The Glass Curtain is located in the Old Thompsons Bakery on MacCurtain Street, which was once a culinary institution and part of Cork’s DNA since 1826.

 The restaurant, which opened in December 2019, said they were forced to close, due to staffing issues caused by illness.

Posting on Facebook the restaurant’s management team said some of the staff had contracted Covid and were unable to work.

“We have decided to cancel all reservations up to and including Friday with hopes to reopen on January 6th. We will be in touch with everyone who has a reservation with us. We apologize for all inconveniences.”

All across the country, businesses have reported major staff shortages as the Omicron variant causes a surge in infections, with at least 75,000 people self-isolating around the country after contracting the virus.

This number is potentially four times as high once close contacts are included.

While St Stephen's Day would normally be the start of a post-Christmas spending boom, some shops yesterday reported lower than expected sales as many struggled to continue operating at all due to staff shortages.

Neil McDonnell, head of small business group ISME, said it is becoming increasingly difficult for some companies to keep their doors open.

“It is becoming very difficult to get replacement staff... there are very significant levels of reporting of people who are isolating at the moment, and the current Omicron [variant] does appear to be spreading extremely quickly,” he told Newstalk radio.

“Obviously the service businesses are the worst affected, it’s also particularly acute in areas like childcare where there are specified minimum ratios of staff to children or clients, places like nursing homes.

“So in those settings it is very difficult to maintain a regular level of service when rostered staff fail to show up because they’re self-isolating.”