Publicans set for a waiting game

PUBLICAN John Duggan, who is on the Licensed Vintner’s Association committee, said that the closure of pubs is devastating for publicans and employees, but vital for public health.

He said that he and his brothers Conor and Brendan met last Saturday to assess how things were.

‘We were trying to hold on, mainly due to people’s jobs,’ he said. The trio own and operate the Martello, Harbour Bar, Ocean Café Bar, Platform Pizza and Box Burger.

By Sunday evening, they had joined other bars across County Wicklow and Ireland in closing, and the state was asking publicans also to close their doors.

‘We have 350 staff in the group, including a lot of people who are full time and have families, rents and mortgages,’ he said.

He said that everything was very quiet over the weekend, even and more so as the days progressed.

They had already closed the Koo nightclub days prior to the closure of all pubs and cancelled musical performances.

For them, and all publicans, the jobs to be done straight away included cancelling direct debits, returning stock where possible, and removing stock, cash, cigarettes and any valuables from premises.

‘The suppliers have been brilliant,’ said John.

‘They include Heineken, Diageo, bottlers, milk men, butchers, vegetable suppliers and more.

‘There is a knock-on effect to all of those businesses.’ Aside from the business, John and his siblings are among many families with elderly relatives.

John’s parents Joseph and Eva Duggan are unfortunately being kept apart from their 24 grandchildren in order to protect their safety, a measure being taken by grandparents everywhere.

Joe will be 90 in June, and is a long-standing member of the business community in Bray.

John said that his dad’s thoughts are very much with the staff. He said that many publicans are concerned about whether are not they will be able to get back on their feet at all if the closures last longer than a couple of weeks.

‘Some were possibly going through hard times as it was, and this will be a further blow,’ he said.

He outlined some of the outgoings aside from rent or a mortgage, including Sky Sports bills which can amount to several thousand euro per month, depending on the size of the establishment.

Locally, he said that their own business has been receiving many messages of support from customers who hope to be back in the coming months for a bite to eat or a drink.

He said that the losses to the industry may span further than the coming month.

‘Tourism is gone, we don’t know how people’s behaviour will change as a result of all this,’ he said.

While there are some up sides, including the chance to re-connect with family, the long-term effects of this closure to the pub trade and its 50,000 employees are yet to be seen.

‘It’s hard to anticipate what way it will be when this is all over,’ said John.

‘For now, the phone isn’t ringing and emails aren’t coming in. It’s the waiting game for everyone in the trade.’