Just like most other tourist attractions in Ireland, the Blarney Stone is back open.

But, the tourist site which is famous for kissing is now subject to new Covid-19 rules. This morning on Dermot & Dave the lads spoke to Paul O'Sullivan, the marketing manager for the Blarney Stone, to revealed the changes that have been introduced at the iconic landmark.

The new rules include:

Working with Enva. An environmental company who deal with Covid solutions for a return to work. We will now be using a cleanser that is W.H.O approved and will kill 99.9% of viruses, germs, bacteria etc that may be on the stone. This has been tested on the stone to show its effectiveness in killing viruses but also that it is safe for people to come in contact with.

This new spray will be used on the stone and allowed to dry for a period of 1 minute. A systematic review published in the Journal of Hospital Infection demonstrated that a (H2O2) concentration of 0.5% achieved a Log4 (99.99%) inactivation of human coronavirus HCoV229E within 1 minute.

To maintain social distancing within the castle, the number of people in the building will be limited.

There will be numerous hand sanitiser stations throughout the castle, before entering the stairs and also leaving, meaning people can clean their hands if they have used the handrails.

A staff member at regular intervals throughout the day will spray the stairwells, handrails and rope with anti-bacterial cleanser.

The person holding people kissing the stone, will be wearing a protective face shield and gloves. The gloves will be changed/cleaned after each person.

Hit play on the podcast to hear more about the Blarney Stone,

[audio mp3="https://media.radiocms.net/uploads/2020/07/01123330/BlarneyPodcast.mp3"][/audio]