Restrictions on foreign travel will be eased from (Thursday) July 9th with travellers permitted to move between countries with similar levels of coronavirus infection.

As The Irish Times writes, a green list will be compiled before that date detailing which countries people can travel between without having to undergo a 14-day quarantine - but it will not include Britain if current Covid-19 trends continue.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar also said checks and controls would be stepped up in airports and ports and there will be an expanded list of exceptional personnel who don’t have to abide by quarantine measures.

Mr Varadkar said the list of accepted countries could change every two weeks.

“If a country ends up having a second wave, they may be taken off the list.”

For more comments from the Taoiseach on what was potentially his last press conference click here.