The flower sellers of Dublin's Grafton Street are a famous sight on the well-trod thoroughfare.

They have brightened the streets of Dublin, and the lives of Dubliners, for centuries.

Here, a colour-filled flower stall with fine blooms.

In the background, if you look carefully, you can see the Phil Lynott (Thin Lizzy) statue outside of Bruxelles.

In 2019 the flower sellers of Grafton Street were accused of being "street clutter" by a property group who own several shops in the area, they later apologised and the flower sellers are indeed still there brightening up the streets of Dublin.

Travel in Ireland - December 2020 Coronavirus Update

As of yesterday, December 3rd 2020 Ireland has exited from six weeks of Level 5 coronavirus lockdown meaning that shops can now reopen, pubs serving food and restaurants can open also. Traditional pubs, not serving food, can't reopen as yet - there are many restrictions as the country is now on Level 3.

Travellers from most countries still have to quarantine for 14 days upon arrival in Ireland but as of 29th November 2020 visitors can take a PCR test for COVID-19 after five days of being in Ireland. Here's the text:

Post arrival testing of passengers

With effect from midnight 29 November 2020

Passengers arriving from an “orange” or “red” or “grey” region are to restrict their movements for 14 days (other than the categories outlined above).

This period of restricted movement can end if you receive a negative/’not detected’ result of a PCR test that has been taken a minimum of five days after your arrival in Ireland. You should wait for your negative test result to be returned before ending the period of restricted movements.

From: https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/b4020-travelling-to-ireland-during-the-covid-19-pandemic/#covid-19-tests-for-international-travel

And yes the above first applied to European arrivals but now applies to all overseas visitors into Ireland.

So you can take a test no less than five days from arrival and upon a negative result you can travel throughout the country.

At the moment most Irish people are limited to staying in their own county for some bizarre reason that I have talked about before, so with checkpoints on the motorways and around the towns of Ireland don't expect your journey to go swiftly. It's difficult to say what the law is for overseas visitors, maybe you would be limited only to travelling in the county where you are staying. The usual rules of wearing a mask, staying 2 metres apart etc... still apply.

Also, having 1,2 or 3 negative PCR tests does not entitle Irish people who have been a close contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19 to reduce their quarantine from 14 days, so expect some strange looks, disbelief and attitude from the locals when you tell them that you can travel freely while they can't.

Ireland currently has the lowest rate of infections from COVID-19 in Europe, but expect that to increase again as we get towards Christmas and the New Year so we are likely to see another change in lockdown level, potentially around January 6th 2021.

Numbers will rise again and movement will need to be restricted again before vaccines are distributed and become effective.

But we should see plenty of travel opportunities opening up beyond Spring and into Summer 2021.

For Panoramic Ireland's photography tours you can make a provisional booking now for 2021 - no payment is required until we are closer to the time so it is a no-risk no deposit booking.

If you are planning a holiday to Ireland in 2021 do contact me to enquire for availability.

Autumn arrives, the clocks have gone back in Ireland and the daylight length is now quite short.

Here, the trees have lost most of their leaves those not carried by the flow of the water remaining on the rocks and riverbanks.

This bridge is large, more than 12ft to the centre of the arch from the river below designed to take traffic across the small but steep sided valley, seen here with low flow but a raging torrent in heavy rains.

For the moment, Ireland is in Level 5 lockdown which means that travel is limited to 5km except for work, school and essential purposes - much of the countryside is looking autumnal and winter will be here by the time we exit Level 5.

Enjoy the view and don't forget to check back for more posts regularly. Here's one of beech trees and an Irish waterfall in autumn.

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From the coast to the mountains - a few weeks ago I headed to the coast for sunrise, the morning's forecast was for sunshine and a bright start to the day.

In reality it was dull and grey and there was no hint of a colourful sunrise.

I photographed and videoed at the Forty Foot in Dublin before making my way into the mountains.

Having checked the weather radar it looked like better weather was to be found away from Dublin.

I found the sunshine after a little rain and the morning got brighter and warmer. I stopped at a woodland stream to photograph some woodland colour and character.

Enjoy the video from the day's journey through the scenic Irish countryside.

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