We have a half English, half Irish family (we live in England) so find it very fascinating to see the differences. I think quite a few from UK will jump on this thread but must really understand the differences.
Irish schools would have broken up much earlier for summer anyway than England and Wales - much more incomparable to Scotland. It's much easier to make the decision not to reopen now than it is in England and Wales who will be thinking about school term running until nearly the end of July.
Ireland have roughly half the infection rate of the UK per capita with a much more rural population- so not comparable in that sense with Britain's timeline (although maybe more so with Wales).
As a teacher, I'd love to hear from Irish teachers as to their involvement with home schooling and contact with vulnerable pupils. The only teachers i know in Ireland are all on mat leave so not much help! Here we're on a reduced timetable but when I'm in work I'm so busy keeping up with our vulnerable children. The support we're giving regarding domestic violence, food vouchers, etc, is like nothing I've ever experienced before (And I don't work in a particularly deprived area). Does Ireland have a much more robust 'social services' than England as I worry so much about our children suffering while they're not in school here, and that's with schools 'open' and in contact with families.
I feel the Irish Prime minister is very personable and agree with a lot of his views and policies on this, but it will be interesting to see if talk of reducing lockdown does make people feel we're getting over this and start taking social distancing less seriously, and whether there is much point setting out dates that each stage will happen if they are going to need to be constantly reviewed and changed - and the impact that will have on the general population's mentality.
And where Northern Ireland for into this? Who knows... again, the forgotten country.