City riots ‘the final nail in the coffin’ for hospitality
Cafe owner hurt by rising costs
A CAFE owner hit by energy bills, an increased VAT rate and rising staff costs says the Dublin riots were “the final nail in the coffin”.
Will Monaghan, owner of the One Society cafe, said the past 11 weeks were “the worst we’ve had in two years” since setting up five years ago.
Restaurant owners have warned of a “crisis point” in their sector after a stilted two years during the pandemic.
It was followed by huge energy bills, a VAT rate increase from 9% to 13.5%, and customers having less disposable income due to the cost-of-living crisis.
Mr Monaghan’s One Society is on the corner of Parnell Street and Gardiner Street in Dublin’s north inner city.
He said: “It got really tough from the start of the Ukraine war, because like everyone and every other business, costs started to spiral and there was no predicting where anything was going.
“Those costs have come down a little bit but they haven’t gone back to where they were and they never will, in my opinion.”
Will told how in the financial year to February 2023, “we had a record year of sales, we had a 15% increase in sales on the previous year, but we made a €50,000 loss”.
He added: “And that only really hit in the last quarter of the calendar year, October onwards. So we entered 2023 with a massive problem – we either close our night-time business or we try and reinvent ourselves, which we did.
“So we reinvented into an Italian tapas and wine bar at night and straight away it started performing.
“After nine months up to November just gone, we were looking
quite strong and we looked like we’d turned around that €50,000 loss into a profit-making situation, which was incredible.”
And then the Dublin riots erupted on November 23, just a stone’s throw from Mr Monaghan’s business.
He said: “Unfortunately the riots meant we were a no-go area. We had a few Christmas bookings cancelled, which was understandable.
“We weren’t able to recover and find business elsewhere because nobody wanted to come here.
“We were getting phone calls from people down the country asking if it’s safe, and we said, ‘Yes it’s safe, there’s an eerie feeling about it, but the streets are the way they were’. But the perception unfortunately is the reality.
“If the perception of the area is dodgy to dangerous in the evening, that’s why we’re suffering so bad and that is not going to improve with the tourist season.”
He added: “When I opened five years ago, people said, ‘You’re mad’. And I said, ‘No, you haven’t been there, it’s up and coming, there’s a lot of positivity, it’s not a dangerous place,’ and it wasn’t and I actually stand over that.
“Businesses trusted what the Government said about regeneration, building up Mountjoy Square, and we put a lot of money on betting on the area that it would come good and it has come good, but it’s now just been completely shot in the foot.”
Asked what can be done to help improve things, he said more gardai and a reduced VAT rate for cafes and restaurants.
Asked whether a regeneration of O’connell Street would also help, he agreed, adding: “If you go to any major city in the world, you’re drawn to the main street because it’s something you want to see, eg, the Champs Elysees in Paris, Las Ramblas in Barcelona.
“Where you go to O’connell Street and you just want to get through it and get out of there as quick as you can.
“You’re supposed to marvel at the spectacle of a main street rather than scurry down, on edge, trying to get away from it.”
You go to O’connell Street and you just want to get through it and get out of there WILL MONAGHAN ON OUR CAPITAL’S MAIN THOROUGHFARE