Off licences should follow pubs in shutting up shop for the duration of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a public health expert.

They can still operate throughout the current restrictions but it has been questioned if it is an essential service.

Professor of public health at Trinity College Joe Barry says closing them would prevent excessive drinking during the Covid-19 crisis.

"One of the ways of reducing liver failure occurring in people who are heavy drinkers, of whom there are about 180,000 in Ireland - is to reduce the supply," said Prof Barry.

"In any country that it has been done, it does reduce the overall level of harm and the overall level of liver failure as a result."

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