Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
CORONAVIRUS CRISIS: IT’S Anger as hospitality industry facing ‘decimation’
DESERTED Hospitality trade has been hammered
EXCLUSIVE
NORTHERN Ireland’s hospitality industry faces total destruction if Stormont orders a Covid “circuit breaker” in October as furlough payments come to an end.
That’s the prediction of Hospitality Ulster members who say the move would not only close Belfast’s Cathedral Quarter – but the entire industry.
Chief Executive Colin Neill says his colleagues fear most would simply have to close their doors and declare themselves bankrupt, meaning staff would be left with no redundancy payouts.
The concerns come as Belfast Chamber President Michael Stewart urged the government to produce evidence to show the hospitality industry is the “villain of Covid infection surge”.
Mr Stewart, who has 35 years experience in the business, said: “Colin Neill and our colleagues are right.
“It’ll not just be the Cathedral Quarter that’ll close if a circuit breaker is introduced in October and coincides with the end of furlough, it will be the entire industry.
“How can anyone survive it? It’s just not feasible.
“We are facing into not just the decimation of our industry but the utter destruction of it and we’ve been shown none of the evidence as to why our industry is paying such a high price.”
Mr Stewart explained that pubs and restaurants are “some of the most sanitised and controlled surroundings” in Northern Ireland at present.
He said: “The safeguards are in place, the routines are in place, the staff are trained, we believe we can work safely.
“All we are asking for is fairness. All we want is a chance.
“And if we’re not going to be given it, we deserve to know why, we deserve to be shown the evidence the government is working from, the evidence they’re building their decisions on.
Mr Stewart added: “And if, as we think there literally is no evidence, then we want an explanation as to why we are being targeted so we can tell the thousands of employees and their families why they’re out of work with no chance of redundancy.”
The Department of Health yesterday released the latest figures on Covid-19, reporting 4,417 individuals have tested positive in the last week, with 106 being treated in hospital, 14 in intensive care.
In yesterday’s press conference, Chief
Scientific Advisor, Prof Ian Young answered questions on pubs and licenced premises.
He said more than half of Northern Ireland’s Covid-19 clusters occurred in the hospitality industry but admitted it was difficult to identify the exact source of community transmission.
He added: “We know that the virus transmits in indoor settings in particular. To reduce the transmissions of the virus we have to reduce the number of contacts.”
However, Mr Stewart insisted the professor clarify the matter further.
He said: “He (Prof Young) needs to explain. Why do wedding venues have no limits if the venue has been stress tested for the safe volume, why are top tables still do-able?
“My industry wants to see the evidence to show that the controlled arenas of pubs, with all the rules, restrictions and regulations in place, are any different to a wedding venue? Show us the science?”
Mr Stewart added: “Before the pubs were reopened, Hospitality Ulster said the decision would help secure hundreds of businesses and thousands of jobs that have been hanging in the balance. Now they’re hanging in the balance again but this time we want to know why.”