Another blow for Alan Hughes as his family pub closes its doors
PRESENTER and panto producer Alan Hughes found himself centre stage this week following a controversy over the distribution of the State’s €5m live performance support scheme.
Hughes has been producing, staging and starring in the panto for the past 21 years but was turned down for a share of the scheme. And in a further hit to his finances, his family-owned bar, The Lodge Carnew, has ceased trading.
‘Pub has been in the family since 2003’
Mr Hughes, a presenter on Virgin Media, is a co-director of the Wicklow bar and restaurant, along with his husband Karl Broderick, his parents and brother.
The pub has been in the Hughes family since 2003, serving beer and pub grub from the main street in the town of Carnew in the south of the county.
This week a notice on the company’s accounts stated that it was to cease trading.
However, it is not clear whether Hughes was involved in the day-today running of the business.
The company accounts detail that, as of 2018, the business had amassed debts of €81,081.
A message posted by management on The Lodge Carnew Facebook page confirmed that the closure of the venture.
‘Just a quick note to say goodbye!’ the message read.
‘After a lot of deliberations [we] have decided we can no longer stay open!’
The farewell note went on to thank staff and customers and revealed that the pub’s offical closing date was early last month.
‘Also, for those responsible in holding bets on which day we officially closed it was October 9 so congratulations to whoever picked that date!’ the message concluded.
While the business may have shut, the property has been listed for rent on the website myhome.ie.
The advert describes t he property as a ‘fine purpose-built three-storey business premises’ and details that it was ‘completely renovated and refurbished in 2004 by the current owners’.
The decision by the Hughes family to shutter the business comes as Mr Hughes has been forced to cancel whose long-running panto this year due to Covid.
The Sammy Sausages Panto has been very sucessful for Mr Hughes, as well as his producer and partner Mr Broderick.
The most recent accounts for Anthem Productions show accumulated profits of €1,551,688.
In 2018, the company made €203,938 after tax and as co-directors Hughes and Broderick paid themselves a salary of €225,005, including a pension contribution of €75,000.
A note on the accounts show that, in 2018, Anthem Productions featured on the Tax Defaulters List after the company agreed a settlement of nearly €50,000 under Section 1086 Of The Taxes Consolidation Act, 1997, for ‘underdeclaration of PAYE/PRSI/ USC and VAT’.
This week, a serious dispute erupted after producer Robert C Kelly, who is Scottish but is putting on a pantomime production in Limerick this year, was awarded €400,000 from Culture Minister Catherine Martin’s €5m fund for artists during the pandemic.
Hughes, whose application for funding for his panto production was not successful, took issue with non-Irish producers securing State funding.
‘There are other places around the country that have producers that aren’t even Irish and don’t pay tax here or spend their profits in Ireland the way we do,’ he said.
‘The Limerick one is produced by a Scottish producer. He puts on a great show but does he spend his profits in Ireland like we do and he’s getting €400,000?’
Hughes did not respond to requests for comment by the time of going to print.
The Sammy Sausages Panto is very successful