For the past 18 months, face coverings have been worn every day in all shops, pubs and restaurants, on public transport and in most other indoor settings.
But with the legal requirement dropped in Ireland from today, it’s now a matter of personal choice and it is yet to be seen how many people will still continue to wear a mask and how many are ready to move on.
I visited Tesco in Dundrum Town Centre in Dublin, the biggest shopping centre in the country, on the first day of the changes to find out the public’s opinion and to see for myself just how many people were still wearing a mask.
Walking into Dundrum felt much the same as any other Monday morning, at first glance. But as I went inside, I quickly started to notice the number of people who were going maskless.
While many were still wearing masks, almost every second person seemed to be happily walking around without a mask. There was a mix between different age groups as well, with some young people still wearing masks and some older people going without and vice versa.
It felt quite strange to see the bottom half of people’s faces while shopping in Tesco for the first time since July 2020. It made shoppers look friendlier and many were happy to be approached for a chat.
I stopped to talk to two women, Karen and Geraldine, who were heading in to do their grocery shopping - both not wearing masks and they agreed it felt “weird”.
"I feel like I'm very bold not having one on, I feel like I'm breaking the law!" said Karen.
Geraldine said she forgot her mask leaving her car and went back for it before she remembered it wasn’t mandatory to wear a mask anymore.
“You're kind of wondering are people judging you [for not wearing a mask],” said Karen
"But it’s lovely to just walk in without a mask,” said Geraldine.
"And see smiles," said Karen.
"And see faces again," agreed Geraldine.
Some shoppers however, felt differently. One man, Paul McCarthy, who was wearing a mask, said he was choosing to wear a mask for at least another couple of months.
When I asked him why, he simply said: "I don't think the Covid threat is over."
But he wasn’t bothered by other people around him not wearing masks. "Oh no, I don't mind,” he said. “As long as I'm wearing one that's all that counts."
“Inside shops, public transport and these places I'll wear it for a while and we'll forget about it then."
When I asked him how long he would continue to wear a mask, he said he was going on holiday to Spain in April - “So hopefully I won't be wearing it then!"
I met a young mother-of-three, Leah O'Brien, coming out of Tesco, pushing her newborn baby in a pram. She wasn’t wearing a mask, a decision she made at the school gates this morning when she saw other parents not wearing one and the excitement of her young daughter who saw her teacher’s face for the first time.
"When I dropped the kids to school this morning and everybody had no mask on I just said, ‘Wow, isn't this amazing?’ she said.
"I totally embraced being able to see parents' faces I'd never met [without a mask on before]. My children just started school in September and I've never seen the other parents' faces or the teacher’s face.
"My child said to me, ‘Oh my god my teacher has no mask on’. I just thought it was amazing and I said, ‘Why would I continue to wear it if everyone else is embracing it?’
"And besides that weird feeling, it feels really important, especially watching the joy on my kid's face seeing people with no masks.”
She added: "It was just lovely, it was actually kind of a joyous moment to say, ‘Hi’ and embrace it with a smile."
Leah said after so many months of being used to wearing the mask, she is still getting used to the "weird feeling" of not wearing one and seeing others around the shopping centre not wearing one either.
"This is the first place I've been not wearing a mask,” she said. “It feels very, very strange. I almost feel like I'm doing something bold, if that makes sense."
She added: "There'd be no judgement either way, some people are wearing it some people aren't. I very much understand why people are still wearing it.
“There's a massive fear factor still out there. I think some generations are still going to be really nervous.
"I'm probably a bit more secure, we had Covid and we're boosted and we have good immunity so I'm just going to embrace life without it.”
I got chatting to one elderly couple in their 80s, Anne and Bernard McGuirk, who are celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary this September, leaving the tills in Tesco.
They were with their adult daughter, Martha O’Farrell, who was giving them a hand with the shopping and all three were masked up.
“[We] feel safer wearing them,” said Martha. “And it’s no big thing to wear it either.”
“I think I’ll hold on to it for a while anyway, you know,” said her mother, Anne. “It’s been good [to wear one]. It depends on how the case numbers go. If they’re coming down rapidly, you might chance it.”
Martha said it helped to see there were some other people still wearing masks in the supermarket as if you were the only one it would feel “uncomfortable”.
“I was at the match yesterday and there were very few people wearing a mask,” she said. “I did hold on to it as I’m looking after my mum and dad, I want to keep myself safe.”
They said they didn’t mind how other shoppers were choosing to ditch the mask. “No problem, that’s their choice,” said Anne.
Another group was an interesting mix - one mother, Margaret Kiley, wearing a mask and her two daughters, Nicola and Louise, not wearing one.
"I had it off coming in but then in a few of the shops people were just a bit close and I put it on,” said the mother, Margaret Kiley. "I’m just so used to it so it [stays] on.
"At this stage of Covid we have to live with it. But as you can see, I’m really hot underneath [the mask],” she joked.
Her daughter Louise, who lives in England, where they did away with mandatory face coverings last month, said that she’s already used to not wearing a mask.
“When you’re in here and you're not too close to people it doesn’t really feel that necessary,” she said. “But I’m not too bothered if I have to wear it or if I don’t.”
“If I was somewhere where I was close to people, I probably would [wear one], like on public transport in rush hour,” said Nicola.
“But it’s nice seeing people’s smiles rather than behind the mask, you don’t see the emotion.”
One group of young people, Alex, Andrew, Alannah and Laoise, said they were delighted not to be wearing masks anymore.
“It feels great,” said Andrew, who said he hasn’t worn one for about six months anyway.
“I feel like it should be a personal choice,” he said. “I feel like the mandates were ridiculous. It should be up to the individual to decide whether to wear one or not.”
“I’m on the same page,” his friend Alex agreed.
“I way prefer not having it,” said Laoise. “It’s so much better. It's a lot more comfortable and it’s not like we’re all up on top of each other anyway. We’re all pretty spread out.
“It feels a lot more normal.”
