Costs forced couple to close their restaurant
A COUPLE have described the heartache of being forced to close their dream restaurant due to rising costs and staff shortages.
Linda and Gary Boyle, who opened their popular restaurant in Killybegs, Co Donegal, in 2019, were forced to shut their doors in April.
The Boyles are just one household struggling with the rising cost of living featured in a new documentary, Broke, which will air on RTÉ One tomorrow evening.
‘Since we reopened the restaurant in October of last year, cooking oil has increased 50%, chicken 90%, lamb 80%, beef 70%,’ Gary said.
‘If one element of your dish increases you might absorb that cost a little, but if you’ve 10 items to make a dish and every one increases, you have to pass it on.’
The couple were worried that trying to keep the restaurant open would then force them to run up big family debts.
‘The decision to close the restaurant wasn’t something that happened overnight.
‘It was a buildup over numerous weeks and endless discussions and heartache and tears,’ said Linda.
‘But it just came to the point where we were trying to do a new menu and [we were] constantly trying to gauge what you could charge and it just became too much.
‘We could have tried to keep going with the restaurant. Then you’ve the fear of [going into] a lot of debt. And we have our family to think of. We’ve our house to think of.’
They are now fighting to keep their food truck on Teelin Pier open, but have faced dropping visitor numbers.
‘It only takes a weekend of bad weather and you have nothing coming in,’ Linda said.
The Fusion Bistro is not the only food venue that struggled to keep its doors open as a result of price increases.
Adrian Cummins, CEO of the Restaurants Association of Ireland, said staff shortages and other challenges facing the hospitality industry have been compounded by the energy crisis.
‘I am sure there are businesses contemplating whether they will have to close in the wintertime or post-Christmas.
‘I would say they are looking at the intermediate term now to see whether they will have to close more than normal or have to close fully,’ he added.
Broke is on RTÉ One, tomorrow at 9.35 pm.