TAPPING GRANTS KEY TO SURVIVAL
LACK OF CLARITY ON REOPENING DATE HAS PUBLICANS SEARCHING FOR A VIABLE WAY FORWARD
MAJOR Government funding is required if pubs are to survive in towns and villages across the county.
This is the view of 29-yearold publican, Frank Doyle who has been running Foley’s pub in Newbawn for three years.
Having worked in the pub trade since he was 16, Frank took a punt and reopened Foley’s in June 2017, after lots of back and forth with a fire officer.
Frank says publicans are going to have to be grant funded and to be offered zero interest micro loans if they are to survive whenever the Government lets them reopen.
‘The odds have been stacked against the pub here and myself since I opened. The place had been closed here for two years so I had to rebuild the business by introducing gins, new spirits and craft beers.’
With an eye to developing a food trade in 2022 Frank did a three month course in Ballymaloe School of Cooking in Cork last year and is now bringing forward his plans as he believes restaurants will be reopened before pubs.
‘I think the Government seem to overlook the importance of rural pubs. It’s like we are the bad guys. They overlook the drugs epidemic that is taking over rural Ireland and are coming down on drink driving.’
Like many publicans, Frank is eagerly awaiting a definite date for pub opening to be announced. ‘I am holding tight for the next week or so but ultimately I am going to have to diversify into having food here based on the criteria and legislation regarding social distancing.’
Frank said he doesn’t think he will be able to keep all eight of his staff, adding that he still remains optimistic that the business can be successful.
‘There is going to be a change in culture. I do think this will lead to the demise of rural pubs as society is going to have to move away from large gatherings indoors until such time as a vaccine is available. As long as there is a virus people won’t be as likely to darken our doors as they might bring it home.’
Frank said the Government should consider the loss of revenue pub closures will have on the economy. ‘They don’t look at the impact on staff wages, wholesalers, suppliers etc.’
Like many he is wondering how two metre distancing can be adhered to in pub toilets, for instance.
‘I closed up in March before we were obliged to. It was hard to do it but it needed to be done. I could reopen tomorrow but it doesn’t mean it would be worth my while. I could also open as a restaurant in the coming months but you’d need a certain amount of covers.’
Frank said just as farmers are funded to upgrade their milking machinery, publicans need to be funded to be able to diversify their businesses.
‘Currently there is absolutely nothing there to assist existing businesses. Pubs have a hugely positive role in rural Ireland. We had between 400 and 500 people here every night in February for our Tops competition; that doesn’t just happen.’
Shawn Murray owns three pubs, the Sportsman’s Inn in Ramsgrange, Prendergast’s in New Ross and The Bull & Green in Waterford.
He isn’t letting the grass grow under his feet and is pulling out all the stops to sell his stock before it goes off, at cost price.
He had invested €25,000 in the Sportsman’s Inn and was due to have bumper St Patrick’s Day and Mother’s Day weekends when the lockdown was announced. ‘It couldn’t have happened at a worse time. All pubs were fully stocked up for the bank holiday.’
Like many in the trade he was hoping to salvage the year with a busy summer but following comments made by health minister Simon Harris, he doesn’t see pubs opening until the autumn or winter.
‘I was thinking all along that we’d at least be back by August but now it looks like it could be a year; that’s if we’re talking about needing a vaccine. I have 33 staff sitting at home.’
Selling all his stock to have ‘money in the bank’ for when pubs can reopen, Shawn is reopening his Ramsgrange take-away M.T. Bellies having completed painting and decorating jobs on his pubs. He said Mr Harris’s announcement that he didn’t see pubs opening until such time as there is a vaccine, was like having the ground pulled from under him.
‘Maybe he didn’t think before he spoke but the problem is nobody knows what’s going to happen. I have to look after the stock as it will either make or break me. Every keg in every pub in the country will be gone off before pubs reopen.’
He said Diageo and Heineken have allowed pub owners return kegs. ‘They will replace kegs one to one, even the kegs that were tapped up. Coca Cola are dragging their feet.’
As for the future of pubs, he says there is plenty of space for social distancing in The Sportsman’s Inn. ‘I will open the restaurant up and have people seated at every second table but the problem is if there is a maximum of 50, say, will it make it worth my while. If the schools open in August why can’t we.’
He said: ‘Since I was 14 I always wanted to own a pub. I thought I would never get the chance. I used to give out about working 364 days a year but if we get back I will never give out again!’
Pauline Colfer invested heavily in her Irishtown pub in 2018 and was devastated when she had to close in mid-March.
‘It’s my livelihood. I have a mortgage with bills to pay so the longer it goes on the worse it gets but it’s out of my hands.’
Pauline said: ‘It’s heartbreaking when you see all the money you spent is locked up with no light at the end of the tunnel. The Vintner’s Association are meeting with the Government to try and get something concrete but everything is so uncertain.’
Like many publicans, Pauline was hopeful her pub could reopen for the summer to salvage the year.
‘We are after losing Paddy’s Day, Easter, and now it looks like the summer. If we lose all of that it’s going to be very difficult on a lot of pub owners to keep going. We all know what we can’t do, but we really want to know is what we can do.’
Employing ten people, Pauline said some of the girls were also working other jobs, but now find themselves unemployed. She says pubs are different in Dublin compared to pubs in rural Ireland. ‘There are country pubs where 20 people go and then you have Templebar at the other extreme.’
Getting the doors open and cash and beer flowing is key to keeping the sector afloat, she said.
Open 22 years, she said: ‘Pubs are more than a business. It;s like the Men’s Shed here [for some of our older clientele]. A few of them come in and don’t even drink, just have a 7Up or water but it means a lot to them.
Having worked seven days a week for 22 years Pauline is struggling to adjust to life without the demands of running a pub. ‘I was in shock when it happened first; you don’t what to do within yourself. I used to think I’d work for another ten years and retire but now I don’t know anymore.’
IT’S HEARTBREAKING WHEN YOU SEE ALL OF THE MONEY YOU SPENT IS LOCKED UP AND THERE’S NO LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL