Are you lovin’ it? McDonald’s to reopen Derry drive thrus over the next week

In fact the company has confirmed that all of its NI Drive Thru restaurants are to reopen in a move publicly endorsed by Economy Minister Diane Dodds.

The drive thru restaurants will all reopen by next Thursday, June 4.

While Crescent Link and Strand Road will reopen, others the McDonald’s Foyleside will not be reopening for now.

Diane Dodds said: “I welcome today’s announcement by McDonald’s on their plans to reopen 28 restaurants across Northern Ireland. McDonald’s contribution to the Northern Ireland economy cannot be underestimated.

“The company employs a large number of people across Northern Ireland and purchases a range of Northern Irish produce including milk and beef. As we move towards our economic recovery, I would commend McDonald’s and businesses throughout Northern Ireland in their ongoing work to enable and support the re-opening of the economy.”

In a statement McDonalds said: “We can today announce that by 4th June, 28 of McDonald’s Northern Ireland restaurants will have reopened for Drive Thru and McDelivery. Every Drive Thru in the UK and Ireland will reopen between Tuesday and Thursday next week and we will start to expand the availability of McDelivery too.

“This is only possible following the hard work of the teams in our 44 UK and Ireland pilot restaurants. Over the last fortnight, our employees, franchisees and suppliers have worked tirelessly to implement new procedures to help enable safe working so that we can now serve McDonald’s favourites to all parts of the UK and Ireland.

“With fewer employees working in our kitchens and service areas, our teams will still need your patience and support as they continue to adjust to the new ways of working. Face coverings, gloves, Perspex screens and new safety and hygiene processes mean it will look different, it will take a little longer and as we’ve seen in the pilot restaurants, we expect demand will be high. Please bear with us, we will continue to put our people first – their safety is our priority.

“In the last week, on occasion, we have taken the decision to close Drive Thru lanes where demand has impacted local communities or the safety of our people or customers. We will continue to work with local authorities and the PSNI as we extend our reopening plans. With smaller teams, we will still be offering a limited menu over reduced hours, and we ask that you make contactless payments, limit your spend to £25.

“We are continuing to review these measures as we reopen, but for now these restrictions remain in place to enable our employees, customers and delivery partner couriers to remain safe.

“To manage the anticipated demand, we will release the locations of the reopening restaurants on the morning of each day.”