Publicans find short school holidays hard to swallow

THE kids may be well settled back to school but support for longer school holidays has come from an unexpected quarter.

The Vintners Federation of Ireland (VFI), which represents thousands of rural pubs, is unhappy about schools reopening in late August and has been busy lobbying to raise its concerns.

Contact has been made with Minister for Education Richard Bruton and tourism minister Brendan Griffin.

Publicans want the ministers to review the attendance cycle in schools.

“Many schools are returning to class in the last week in August, which eats into what was previously the holiday period of the full months of July and August,” says the VFI.

“This would help the tourist businesses in the tourist areas that are dependent on the summer months to generate a level of income that ensures viability year round.” The start of a “more pints for parents” campaign, perhaps?

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Posh burgers are going down a treat these days so Bunsen Burger, which started life on Dublin’s Wexford Street, is beefing up its expansion plans.

I hear Belfast is next on the trail for Bunsen, which was set up by Tom Gleeson, a business and politics graduate. The 32-year-old, who has worked in top restaurants including Heston Blumenthal’s Fat Duck, now has five restaurants in the Republic.

The chain will take on the ground floor of Longbridge House at Waring Street in Belfast city centre, which is owned by BJ Eastwood’s firm, Wirefox. It will seat around 70 diners.

Bunsen has four locations in Dublin and one in Cork. The chain opened in Wexford Street in 2013, and has since expanded this location.

In Belfast it will face some stiff competition, and not just from McDonald’s. Brett, Ross and Derry Desmond, sons of financier Dermot Desmond, have already opened a Five Guys restaurant there, and may open two more.