BUSINESSES ARE‘ BEYOND BREAKING POINT’ AS LOCKDOWN CONTINUES
WHEN the Meys family opted to move their Schnitzel Haus restaurant from Crescent Quay to North Main Street, it was a move taken with Covid-19 and social distancing in mind. Recognising that the pandemic and its effects would be with us for some time, Rene Meys opted to take a lease on a bigger restaurant which would allow for increased spacing between tables and an even safer environment.
In a brave move, the family opted to double down and extend their offering by establishing the Waffel Haus at Crescent Quay to offer coffee, traditional German waffles and sweet treats.
That was at the start of December. Now little more than two months later, hearing the news from An Taoiseach that ‘severe lockdown’ restrictions are to last until the end of April, Rene feels that the family have been dealt a hammer blow.
‘The only reason we moved to our second premises was to live with social distancing and to be able to provide a space of more than two metres in between tables,’ he said. ‘I would never have moved from my premises on the quay in normal times. I decided that the best thing to do was find a bigger premises and take the risk in order to live with Covid. We have two floors, high ceilings, we had a cleaner employed specially to sanitise things during the day, tables were thoroughly sanitised after use; we took every precaution, but it still doesn’t seem to be good enough.’
Like a lot of business owners, Rene is now left worrying for the future.
‘We’re looking at level 5 (restrictions) until May now. Then we’ll probably be looking at a drop to level 3, which is outdoor dining only. That’s just not feasible at the moment with the weather. We’re probably talking July minimum before we can do anything.
This is really getting beyond breaking point now. I know plenty of business people who are really struggling. They simply have no money. Of course I’m worried for the future. I have my lease on the Main Street paid up until the end of June. Then I need to come up with another three months rent. That’s it. If I can’t open, I don’t know who’s going to pay my lease for me.’
Rene feels that the hospitality sector has been dealt with unfairly by the government.
‘We’ve been closed now since December 24,’ he said. ‘That came very suddenly too. We had all our stock bought in and it had to be thrown away. Our bins were literally breaking with the amount of food. We were throwing out meat that was still vacuum packed, all because there was no proper communication and stock had already been bought for the whole Christmas period.
‘At the end of the day, restaurants are a controlled environment. I know we need supermarkets, but you’d have to say that a restaurant is better controlled than a supermarket. People come in and sit at their table, everything is disinfected. No cases have been linked back to restaurants. We’ve already proven ourselves. We have to try and learn to live with this thing and closing everything down indefinitely is not the answer.
‘The government needs to trust restaurants and gastro pubs. If there are places that don’t obey the rules, fair enough. Close them down. But there are a lot of good restaurant owners in Wexford who have done all they can.’