Bar lifted: Regulars toast the reopening of drink-only pubs after a long dry spell
THE lengthy wait for drink-only pubs to finally reopen ended yesterday as patrons enjoyed a few refreshing pints without the need to buy food.
Despite fears that a 10pm closing time could be introduced in Northern Ireland following the steps taken in England this week, pub owners were just glad to get the doors open for the first time in six months.
Social distancing, table service and hand sanitising stations are the new normal, and something many people will be used to after bars which serve food reopened in July.
As I travelled to Belfast city centre by train, it was hard not to notice the amount of commuters failing to wear a face mask on board. But adhering to the Covid-19 restrictions was a very different affair in the pubs.
In the Northern Ireland Supporters’ Club on the Shankill Road customers are asked to use the hand sanitiser available to them on their left after they are buzzed in through the front door.
Customers can only be served through a Perspex screen at the bar, with the shutters staying closed around the rest of the counter.
Sam Cole (83), a regular in the club, escorted the Belfast Telegraph around to see how customers can enjoy their afternoon in a socially distanced manner.
He said he was “delighted” the venue can welcome customers once again.
“Most of us come here on a Wednesday,” he explained.
“Most of us are pensioners and ex-servicemen, as this is an ex-servicemen bar, most of the women who come here are pensioners too, and we all look forward to a Wednesday here.
“I can drink a pint here, or two pints, or a vodka, and I’m not eating a fish supper or a bowl of stew.
“This law seems to be really ridiculous. Most of the people I talk to say the same.
“How is a sausage roll with a pint different from a pint on its own?”
Mr Cole joked that a few pints might even help beat the virus.
“I’m 83 years of age and I look forward to my Wednesday out and Saturday and Sunday,” he added.
“That’s the three days I’m out and I like to meet up with my friends.”
Meanwhile, at Madden’s Bar in Belfast city centre Paul O’boyle could not wait to enjoy a drink without being “lumbered” with food.
As you walk into the wellknown traditional music pub customers are directed where to go by means of a barrier before ordering your drink and taking a seat.
Paul was supping away at his first Guinness of the day and said he hoped everyone can now abide by the regulations in place.
“Madden’s is my local and it’s been absolutely brilliant just to sit in and just to have a drink without having to eat food,” he said.
“You eat when you’re hungry, you drink when you’re thirsty and you sleep when you’re tired.
“It was frustrating, but I just hope everybody abides by the rules and hopefully they’ll be allowed to stay open.”
Elsewhere in Bittles Bar I took full advantage of my day out in the city as I treated myself to a pint of ice-cold Heineken. After ordering my drink at the bar, pub owner John Bittles told me to have a seat and brought my drink to the table, where I paid him by contactless card.
John explained that yesterday marked the first day he was allowed to let people back into the building, but said the stress during lockdown was too much at times.
“It’s good to be open again and when you’re closed like we were there’s a lot of pressure on you,
a lot of stress, a lot of anxiety and it knocks your whole system about,” he added.
“You just want to get everything back to normal and we’re glad to get the place back up and running. People will come in, stand at the door, and if they wait a wee second we’ll give them a table.”
West Belfast pub owner Gerard Keenan, who runs Dan’s Bar on the city’s Springfield Road with his wife Sinead, said it was an “unreal feeling” to open the business again.
“Sinead could sleep standing up but last night, she struggled to sleep because she was so nervous and was just worrying if it was actually going to happen this time,” he said.
“The doors were open this morning at half 11 and there were a few customers outside waiting to come in.”
Some bars still remain closed in Belfast, however. Venues which rely on live music, such as the Duke of York, are to remain shut until it becomes clearer on what will and will not be allowed. Until that time, people’s social lives have been given a new lease of life as the ‘local’ can welcome back its patrons.