The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
Kerry Vintners hopeful Dame Lane revelry won’t be replicated here
THE Kerry Vintners Federation Chairperson Christy Walsh said he is hopeful people in Kerry will abide by social-distancing protocols once all bars in the county are allowed to re-open on July 20.
The Listowel publican’s comments come in the wake of pub-goers blatantly ignoring social distancing around bars in the Dame Lane area of Dublin City at the weekend. The online images of revellers in close proximity sparked outrage, raising fears of a ‘second wave’ of COVID-19.
The scenes also patently ignore An Garda Síochána’s ‘Operation Navigation’ policy, set up last weekend to carry out checks of licensed premises (that sell food) to ensure public-health guidelines were being implemented.
The Dame Lane incident is now being touted as a public relations disaster for a sector of the economy hardest hit since lock-down measures were introduced in March. However, Mr Walsh believes people in Kerry will do the right thing come July 20.
“We’re asking publicans that are asked to stay closed to do so, and those that are open to act responsibly and within the guidelines. We don’t want to see what happened in Dublin at the weekend happening all over the country in two weeks’ time”, he said.
Mr Walsh believes the current spell of poor weather in Kerry may have prevented similar scenes from happening here last weekend, and he is urging people not to be careless.
“In one way we were lucky the weather wasn’t that fine last weekend, but there’s talks of fine weather coming in the next week or two. That would, of course, bring extra people out, and we would urge them to think safety “We’re asking the public to bear with us and stick with the laws and guidelines that are there to keep COVID under the hatch for another while.
“We’re hopeful that with all the work we’ve done through the vintners, and with the goodwill of our customers and general public, that it won’t happen here,” he said.
Publicans across Kerry have invested huge sums of money in recent weeks redesigning their premises to suit the ‘new normal’. Pubs that sell food have opened since last Monday.
“It’s been positive in Kerry and there has, by and large, been very good compliance by bars
“They seem to be happy with it. All these bars have spent an awful lot of money and the Vintners Federation of Ireland have been fantastic in providing online courses and guidelines for staff.
“Our suppliers have also come on board providing access to Personal Protection Equipment. By and large, it’s fairly positive.”
Lastly, publicans are currently lobbying the Government for a reduction in the VAT rate on alcohol sold for on-trade consumption from 23 per cent to nine per cent until the end of December 2020.
It’s hoped the measure can be achieved under a Europe
t would be in line with policy in other EU countries such as Spain, Italy and Cyprus, to help bars recover economic losses.
Ger Counihan of Bunkers Bar in Killorglin is among the group of publicans in the county supporting the measure.
“Pubs are central to our county and our tourism offering, in particular. We need them to be able to reopen,” Mr Counihan said.
“We were among the first sectors to close on March 15. We are among the last to reopen. We will do so under very unique circumstances, completely at odds with what it means to enjoy Kerry’s culture and heritage in the pub,” he added.