PUBS’ D-DAY

Bar owners on tenterhooks as Cabinet to decide whether to give reopening green light

IT’S D-Day for publicans as the Cabinet meets to decide whether the country’s bars can reopen on August 10.

Ireland’s largest vintners’ group said today is ‘make or break’ for many pubs and warned further delays in reopening would require a compensation package.

Independent TD Mattie McGrath said publicans are being ‘blackguarded’ by the Coalition, who are playing games with each other at the expense of livelihoods.

Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said last night that officials were ‘concerned’ by the 46 new coronavirus cases reported yesterday, while a Government source said ‘it is a lot trickier this week than last’ to

IF walls could talk, public houses across the country could fill books’ worth of stories. But today, thousands remain silent in an Ireland we never thought we’d experience. No pints are being poured, no gossip exchanged, and the world hasn’t been set to rights.

But behind the closed-up counters there are now other stories which may never be told – of loneliness, depression and isolation by people who depend on their local pub for companionship, for their mental health, for survival.

Today is D-Day for pubs across Ireland, as the post-Cabinet decision looms tonight on whether they should reopen.

Almost half of the country’s 7,000-plus pubs have been operating as restaurants since June 29, but the remaining half – around 3,500 – remain closed.

But today, publicans will finally get the news they’ve been anxiously waiting for.

Will they finally be permitted to open their doors next Monday, August 10, after five long, hard months of closure?

‘If I was a betting man, I wouldn’t put money on it,’ says Niall Farrelly, who owns and operates Farrelly’s pub in Oldcastle, Co. Meath, with his father, who’s run the pub for 22 years.

‘We already got our hopes up and then dashed a few weeks ago. All pubs were due to open on July 20, but that was put back due to the medical advice. We got very little notice about not reopening, about three days. Stock had been ordered, pubs had been redone to ensure social distancing and everything else needed was in place.

‘Publicans feel very let down and disappointed by government. So we are trying not to get our hopes up.’

For people living in a city or large town in Ireland, there is an abundance of pubs serving food that are open for business.

But in rural Ireland, it’s a completely differ

boys for The pubs have become the poster There is all that is bad and could go wrong. about so much hand-wringing and nonsense to trade. reopening pubs. Just give us a chance who are We would not put our customers, way. our neighbours and friends, in harm’s WEXFORD TOM DUNBAR, DUNBAR’S IN FERNS, CO.

ent story. There are dozens of villages where there are no pubs or restaurants open whatsoever. And, five months on, it’s taking its toll on local communities as well as affected publicans. Paul Moynihan, of Moynihan’s Bar, Donard, Co. Wicklow, remains closed, as does the only other pub in the village. Mr Moynihan, incoming Vintners Federation of Ireland (VFI) president, says he hopes the Government keeps one key fact in their minds when making the decision today – there has not been even one outbreak of Covid-19 in the 3,500-odd pubs that have been operating since the end of June.

‘This is a new world we are living in. Everyone wants to be back socialising but we know we have to be careful and it has to be safe. In Donard, there are two pubs and both are closed as are all the restaurants,’ he explains.

‘In cities and big urban areas, most of the pubs are open so it’s easy not to even notice that there are lots of rural pubs suffering. It’s the rural isolation side of it at the moment, after five long months.’

Ten miles from Donard is where the nearest open pub or restaurant is.

‘I used to be open six nights a week, and then overnight, nothing. That takes an emotional toll. I miss my customers. And that’s before we even get into the financial side of it.

‘A lot of pubs are in total jeopardy if we don’t open.’

The anger and frustration is evident among rural publicans.

It’s also understandable, especially considering that 75% of the pubs that remain closed are situated in rural Ireland.

And it’s not just about the drink, stress publicans, as rural pubs provide so much more than that to local communities.

‘This has affected a lot of people mentally living in more isolated parts of Ireland, in the countryside,’ explains William Clynch, owner of Moone High Cross Inn, Moone, Co. Kildare.

‘The average age of my customers would be between 50 and 55. Because this is such a rural area, pubs are a social centre. Drink has very little to do with it. The main part of it is the social element rural pubs provide. Our customers come down to have a chat and a drink. We have customers affected by depression over all of this.’

Niall Farrelly echoes this sentiment, saying many of his customers in Oldcastle are suffering psychologically over the length of the time their local has been closed.

‘I know all my customers. They are my friends, my neighbours. They are my family at this stage,’ he says. ‘A rural pub is a very different place to a pub in Dublin or in a big city. Everyone knows each other and it’s a social outlet. I’ve about 20 customers who come in