One in eight bars Irish bars in the Republic of Ireland have closed in the past six years.
The drastic recession, emigration and a huge crackdown on drunk driving are said to be the main reasons why.
Over 1,000 pubs have now closed in that time period with massive loss of jobs.
And the carnage is expected to contine with more pubs closing as even stricter drink driving laws are introduced.
Figures obtained by the Irish Independent show the country had 8,617 pubs in 2005, at the very height of the Celtic Tiger.
Now the number has fallen by 1,108 to just 7,509 this month.
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Rural pubs are especially devastated. Leitrim is hardest hit with one-fifth of all its pubs gone. down from 140 in 2005 to its current 110.
In Donegal, 71 pubs have closed down while in Cork, 211 pubs have closed.
Many pub owners say the new drink driving laws where less than a pint of Guinness consumed can cause an arrest is the final straw.
Liam Fitzpatrick, owner of Fitzpatrick's lounge bar in Rathnew Village, Co Wicklow, told the Belfast Telegraph he is in no doubt that business is set to decline more.
"Lads would have come in for a pint and a chat on the way home from work. They would catch up on what's happening locally and what was on at the weekend. There would have been between 15 and 20 of them. Now there are very few," he said.
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Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.DanOLoingsigh | Oct 25, 2011, 03:34 PM EDT
I have to agree with George on this...I ran a bar in the west some years ago...in under a year 3 young customers (under 40) died in alcohol-related circumstances. This wasn't a big bar, either. I think the Irish average consumption is brought down by the large number who never take a drink at all...usually because they have seen the damage done in their families. It's certainly imo the most destructive drug in the country...having said all that, the ambience and general 'crack' in your average Irish bar is world-class, and most social drinkers can well handle a few pints. Hard to penalise the many, for the few that can't handle the stuff...
GeorgeDillon | Oct 25, 2011, 01:42 PM EDT
butlerreport: You are quite right about Irish alcoholism. It's endemic, across age groups, regions, and social class. Don't pay any heed to sirpeter--he sounds like just another Irish drunk.
sirpeter | Oct 25, 2011, 12:51 PM EDT
butlerreport.Queot"Ireland is rotten with alcoholism"Unqueot.That is incorrect.Ireland is no worse that the average country for alcoholism.France has the most in the EU.While alcohol is the drug of choice of most Irish people.There are plenty countries with average alcoholism but also have addictions to substance's.Over eating is also a mental addiction and that kills more people each year then all the rest put together.Plenty addictions out there my friend that cause alot of trouble.
KMcSinger | Oct 25, 2011, 11:45 AM EDT
If the bars paid for buses to bring people to and from the bars they could stay open.
butlerreport | Oct 25, 2011, 07:38 AM EDT
Great news. Pub owners think too highly of themselves. That's because they were able to finance politicians election campaigns. Ireland is rotten with alcoholism a point highlighted by that fall down drunk Taoiseach Cowen. Less is better - the money is better spent elsewhere. "Crisis' my ass.
warrenpoint00 | Oct 24, 2011, 09:42 PM EDT
Great news....as reported Fianna Fail leader made his final decisions in a pub for his failed agenda in a failed statelet of Ireland.Why would any right minded Irish person accept a bannana republic within a great country. Lets close all the pubs and get down to business...reunite our country return it to its glory days of the 11th century. Move upwards and onwards , re open the pubs and then we all can have a drink.
quixotic | Oct 24, 2011, 08:15 PM EDT
Well, as a visitor to Ireland many times in more rural areas - Offlay, Westmeath, Cavan - I think that the old culture of my father is finished. I think that the older people are the real victims here in that going to the local pub was the essence of the social life. I think I would miss that if I lived there and was older.
JBRAFTREE | Oct 24, 2011, 05:22 PM EDT
I was in Galway in May this year, and I had a hellova time trying to find a pub open during the day, I had to do my drinkin' and conversing during the day at the lodge where I stayed. On the weekends that place was packed.
JBRAFTREE | Oct 24, 2011, 05:16 PM EDT
Antonman, a 4 pk of Guinness Draught costs me 7.50 American, (Take out). while two pulled pints at the pub cost about $9. I've at times resorted to bringing it home. I definitely need a driver if I sit at a pub, or am unable to walk home.
AlunPalmer | Oct 24, 2011, 04:25 PM EDT
I agree with RedBranch. Driving is how you get to the pub. His solution is not all that bad, or at least a good place to start from in a serious discussion.
thumpdrum | Oct 24, 2011, 03:20 PM EDT
In hard hit times shush as these, pubs need to stay open. At one time, pubs served as a place of business dealings, news and camaraderie. Lower the price of a pint and make more pubs walkable. One other thing, as one who performs in "Americanized Irish pubs", turn down the blasting sound system and and allow people to interact in conversation for a change.
thumpdrum | Oct 24, 2011, 03:19 PM EDT
In hard hit times shush as these, pubs need to stay open. At one time, pubs served as a place of business dealings, news and camaraderie. Lower the price of a pint and make more pubs walkable. One other thing, as one who performs in "Americanized Irish pubs", turn down the blasting sound system and and allow people to interact in conversation for a change.
sirpeter | Oct 24, 2011, 03:16 PM EDT
Georgy Boy. The only part of you that has ever traveled "widely" is your ass.
RedBranch | Oct 24, 2011, 02:07 PM EDT
antoman is correct, one at the pub is worth four at home. Here's one plan I read for rural pubs to survive. In the country you are allowed to drink as much as you want and drive home, however you must have your flashers on to alert other drivers, keep under 30mph and follow all the rules of the road. Failure to do so would result in all the drunk driving consequences... This approach will never be adopted, - its not pc for a start, but the pubs will continue to close and more of us, like anotman, will choose to curl up at home with a few half'uns, the telly and a slighty fatter wallet.
seagreen | Oct 24, 2011, 11:56 AM EDT
I think everyone is in agreement that blithering drunks that are a menace on the roads have to be eliminated, but in the US, and now it seems Ireland also, alleged drunk driving is being used to fill the financial coffers of towns and small cities. People are being stopped , then hand cuffed that have had two Bud lights after working all day. They face loss of license, possibly their job. The municipalities can realize upwards of $1800 per conviction. Recently cases of false breathalyser tests have been substituted in the case of individuals that were not drunk. the prohibitionists are always wailing about alcohol in their own weird little lives of church socials,baking contests, and sing alongs ! (of course they also produce an occasional ax murderer, who was "just a quiet man" These good people eliminated alcohol in the US for a few years, but did leave us with one lasting institution called the MAFIA
antoman | Oct 24, 2011, 11:49 AM EDT
I see gobshitepaddy has returned to using his georgedillon nic. Mental illness is a curse.
mhichil | Oct 24, 2011, 11:47 AM EDT
effin sad if you ask me~
GeorgeDillon | Oct 24, 2011, 11:37 AM EDT
I've traveled widely--I calculate I've been in at least 50 different countries. And I would say that one of the most overrated things in the world is the Irish pub. Most of them are boring dumps, with a few big TVs blaring out coverage of English soccer games while the Irish "fans" of the different teams scream and curse.
PaddyMac | Oct 24, 2011, 11:33 AM EDT
Maybe next time the author could write about the number of people whose lives were saved because there are fewer drunk drivers: Road Deaths in 2007: 338 Road Deaths in 2008: 279 Road Deaths in 2009: 240 Some of this may be attibutable to fewer people driving to work in the recession. But that could also be the cause of the downturn in pub receipts. In any case, there will always be enough pubs for everyone - it's supply and demand.
rosks304 | Oct 24, 2011, 09:41 AM EDT
I do think that the smoking laws were the initial downfall of the pubs,was in Cork a few years back,the only thing you did not see in pubs were people,the few that were drinking,were outside freezing and getting pneumonia.
CitizenWhy | Oct 24, 2011, 09:38 AM EDT
Is this good news or bad? Does it mean less drinking and more time at other pursuits? Does it mean more drug use? Does it mean that people economically hurt are staying in and drinking, or is the loss of customers more widespread? Who knows?
FordanBonardi | Oct 24, 2011, 09:34 AM EDT
When people of Ireland suffer, I suffer. I know the good ones will remain. I will travel to the Emerald isle next year, and hope my favorite ones in the West are still there. It's in the pubs and B&B's that I meet the real Irish, and it makes it for me.
antoman | Oct 24, 2011, 08:12 AM EDT
Do I buy one pint or buy four beers and stop home.
antoman | Oct 24, 2011, 08:11 AM EDT
@gobshitepaddy- You are projecting again. Leaving us to interpret your words and not the article to hand. Surely you understand that posters here are quite intelligent and can sniff out mental health issues with a poster. May I suggest you go to a forum where the clientele are less intelligent and would put more stock in your words.
gobdawpaddy | Oct 24, 2011, 07:21 AM EDT
Firstly the publicans blamed the smoking ban, then it was the clampdown on drink driving and now it's the recession. Did they ever contemplate that their profit margins might be contributing to their diminishing clientele? I was in a dive bar in Dublin last week and was charged EUR 6.20 for a small bottle of wine. The following evening I was in a city center hotel and asked for a glass of pinot noir, I nearly choked on it when I was charged EUR 14.75 - I wouldn't be charged that in The Ritz Carlton in Manhattan.