Schools to remain closed until the end of January, local TD announces

Schools are to remain shut until the end of January, a local government minister announced a short time ago.

Minister of State Robert Troy was one of a number of the party's TDs who announced the news on social media a short while ago. It appears that he has since removed the post. A Tweet from Fianna Fail announcing the news has also been deleted.

Speaking on RTE's News at One earlier, the Taoiseach Micheal Martin hinted that while schools are safe they could remain shut in a bid to slow the surge in Covid-19 cases.

"It's about the mobilisation of a million people in the context of a very high transmission of the virus in the community," he said.

The Taoiseach also said that reducing the current 5km travel limit was "not on the agenda".

"We believe that the 5km is quite a restrictive measure on people, and we're very conscious of psychological health, mental health – the wellbeing of people," he said.