The Irish government is to outlaw below cost alcohol sales amid renewed calls to save the traditional Irish pub from extinction.
Prime Minister Enda Kenny’s Cabinet is proposing a minimum price on beer and wine at off-licences and supermarkets to curb the availability of cheap booze.
The move comes as industry experts warn that the Irish pub is a dying breed – despite Barack Obama’s endorsement when he drank a pint of Guinness in his ancestral hometown of Moneygall last year.
Over a thousand pubs have already closed in Ireland since the collapse of the Celtic Tiger economy and publicans fear many more will follow.
The Vintner’s Federation has even warned that 5,000 jobs could be lost in 2012 alone as publicans suffer from the recession, a lower drink driving limit and a ban on cigarette smoking in public places.
With pub sales down by a third since 2006 and the number of licensed premises down to just 7,509 in a country famous for its pubs, many fear that the worst is yet to come.
“There are many reasons for the decline of the pub, but they centre around changing lifestyles, regulatory changes and the weak economy,” Padraig Cribben, chief executive of the Vintners Federation of Ireland, told the Financial Times. “People are cash poor due to the recession, and retail sales have become a lot cheaper.”
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Despite industry protests last month, the Irish government has increased VAT on sales to 23 per cent as part of its austerity Budget.
“The VAT increase is a significant hit for us to take. I fear this could be the tipping point for some publicans,” added Cribben as rural pubs feel the brunt of the recession.
Wicklow publican Liam Fitzpatrick, host at the family pub in Rathnew, told the FT that sales are down 30 per cent since the height of the boom.
“There has been a cultural shift in Ireland over the past decade with people drinking at home rather than in the pub,” said Fitzpatrick who puts the decrease in business down to the smoking ban, tough drink driving laws, cheaper off-licence sales and a big improvement in housing standards.
Higher unemployment and some emigration, is also hurting sales according to Fitzpatrick.
He said: “There is a danger more pubs will go out of business. I’d say probably one in three of the existing pubs will have to close down in coming years.
“At the moment the pub is still up there as an Irish institution – one of the big attractions for tourists and important to communities. There is a danger we could lose that. The government needs to act now.”
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Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.cillowen | Jan 11, 2012, 10:47 AM EST
Its a good thing for stoppage of brain cell losing trauma.
IrelandNorth | Jan 11, 2012, 07:02 AM EST
Vitner's Federation (i.e Intoxication Industry) kicked up a stink when the Government of the day brought in the indoor smoking ban. When reminded that over 5,000 Irish people a year die of smoking related illnesses, they were asked how many deaths they considered acceptable, they were remarkably silent. The dubious correlation of drinking with Irishness so adeptly exploited by the intoxication industry will be no loss to a sober Ireland. Time for us to stumble out of the foggy dew of drunken false cultural consciousness and stop drinking the devil's buttermilk.
howareya | Jan 10, 2012, 04:56 PM EST
Oaklongan!!!! "Is THAT my brother in the photo at the far..." LOL LOL LOL
ciaradexy | Jan 10, 2012, 03:14 PM EST
Pubs are too expensive. Why spend €80 on a night out in Ireland when you can spend 20 a go to a mates house for a party!
IrishAncestor | Jan 10, 2012, 08:03 AM EST
The pub trade in Ireland, both North and South is in a bad way. High prices, no smoking, and stringent drink-driving laws are all to blame. I used to play as an entertainer in bars, hotels etc., but fewer and fewer places are bothering to hire entertainers nowadays.
abbym7180 | Jan 10, 2012, 01:02 AM EST
How sad on the closing of pubs. I agree with everyone on your opinions. We have the same thing here in america on very low legal limits,1 drink for women two for men and the smoking bans which in some places include outside too. The only thing that's kept the bars going here during a recession is happy hour 4-7 half priced beer & some cocktails.But for the most part you stay home if you want to drink & get on facebook to socialize.Boring.And be careful what you type!
faberm1 | Jan 09, 2012, 11:26 PM EST
Simple logic; Government has chosen to outlaw smoking, strict driving laws, and taxing the pubs out of existence. It's not a mystery.
pilib04 | Jan 09, 2012, 09:17 PM EST
Why should people in any country be forced to pay extra for carryout alcohol in order to protect pubs? The price of a pint in Ireland is unreal. Has been for a long time. Note sure how people have been able to afford the pub. And now the Fine Gael government wants to protect these high prices. Hmm, what does Labour have to say about this?
fargobarbi | Jan 09, 2012, 08:37 PM EST
Tis sad indeed! No one has mentioned the importance of the neighborhood pub as being the social meeting place. In tiny villages around this country, it's the only place people go to meet up with friends for a pint & craic. It's often the way the locals end their day & the only socializing they get. I'm not a smoker, but that's another reason business is down. The people are being legislated to death; a pint & a smoke is what it is. Sin sin!
oaklongan | Jan 09, 2012, 06:15 PM EST
Dismaying article about legendary, world-renowned Irish pubs. Was thinking about the emigration out of Ireland, among other relevant reasons for the, over time, massive closings of.. Is THAT my brother in the photo at the far upper left. Wondered where he was over Christmas.
carrickcourt | Jan 09, 2012, 01:18 PM EST
Now the important question is is Gartlan's Pub on the Main Street of Kingscourt, Co. Cavan still in business? The roof of Gartlan's Pub is thatched by the way. I had a great evening at Gartlan's Pub with three Irish older second cousins once removed, who are unfortunately no longer living. The lads were disappointed that their younger American cousin could not contribute a song once the lads started singing, after a few pints of the stout porter beverage of course.
Springfield9 | Jan 09, 2012, 12:28 PM EST
The Pub is being regulated and taxed to death. THat's not a phenomena. The probelem according to a reader of the Kerryman is that the gov't couldn't run a duck farm. I thought that was ausing becuase the U.S. government owned and bankrupted a house of ill repute!!
thumpdrum | Jan 09, 2012, 12:21 PM EST
If you think about the absurd amount of legislation required for you to drink a pint in a pub, it's no wonder Pubs are going under. It's a pint. It's not liquid gold. Drop the prices, stop regulating the hell out of people and let them get on with their lives! We have similar issues over in the US. We're paying 5-6 bucks a pint for domestic brews, The markup on a pint is outrageous.
gobdawpaddy | Jan 09, 2012, 11:22 AM EST
Of course publicans would never consider their profit margins as part of thre problem. Like most in the hospitality business in Ireland they are a very greedy bunch.
OleSarge | Jan 09, 2012, 11:17 AM EST
Why bring Obama into the article. What was he going to do, insult Ireland by not trying a pint? He is totally immaterial to the efforts to save the Pub. The viability of the pub is a Irish problem.
RockNReel | Jan 09, 2012, 10:55 AM EST
Rightly so, No one should even attempt after having one measure of alcohol as it impairs driving . There's thousands of families who have lost loved ones -mostly young Irish males who drank in pubs and then went off and were involved in fatal accidents.killing themselves and often 4 or 5 passengers. The Irish have long since gotten over that law, and the smoking law as well and its a combination of all of the new laws as well as high prices, the recession,mass unemployment and emigration of our young people.As well as high costs incurred by the government to claw back money that they need to pay back the billions they borrowed from the ECB to bail out useless banks. No one can say its one law on its own that's causing pubs to close down.
RichardP | Jan 09, 2012, 10:50 AM EST
Fully agree Oldwildrover. I logged in to say exactly that but you beat me to it.
Oldwildrover | Jan 09, 2012, 10:46 AM EST
It is NOT the recession that is causing pubs to close but the new drunk driving laws. After one pint you are now considered drunk. I think the limit is reduced to.4 or .5 or something like that. Anyway, folks are now scred of being caught and suspended for a year.....