by Ronan Casey
It’s way too early to call last orders for rural pubs despite over a fifth of all licensed premises in Westmeath closing down since 2005.
Figures obtained by Topic indicate that in the past eight years, a total of 45 local pubs have called time and shut down – that’s one every two months.
Publicans leading the fight back against the closures say it’s time to ‘adapt or die’ and adopt a positive approach to a changing market rather than hope the good times will return.
According to the Drinks Industry Group of Ireland (DIGI) and the Vintners Federation of Ireland (VFI), there were 213 licensed premises operational in Westmeath in 2005. Topic understands that in late 2013, just 168 licences were renewed
Nationally, over 1,000 pubs have been forced to close since 2005.
The closures in Westmeath came as no surprise to Declan Rooney, Chairman of the Westmeath VFI and owner of Rooney’s Ballymore, who feels that the overhead costs are putting rural pubs out of business.
He says excise duty is “seriously damaging” all pubs, not just rural ones. While agreeing that a lower tax would help, he also feels that the sale of cheaper alcohol in supermarkets is “crippling” pubs too.
“Supermarkets are using drink as a loss leader and they can absorb the excise, but they are the biggest killers,” he says. “Older drinkers are dying out and no one is replacing them because they’re all at home or they come out late at the weekend. For most pubs, trading early in the week is a non-event.”
Another bug bear is rural transport. Tight drink driving laws are leaving older pub customers “afraid of their lives” to drive to the pub and “a lot of red tape” by local authorities is holding up new hackney licences. “If we got these up and running, it would be a good plus. At the moment a lot of publicans are bringing customers home at night.”
Arguing that Council and water rates are helping to drive family-run pubs out of business, he said this would ultimately hurt Council finances. Other aspects include hefty satellite sports bills, high energy costs and music licensing charges. “Sky are increasing their sports service by €100 a month and they won’t do deals, so it doesn’t pay.”
“There is not a living out of this at the moment. I’m lucky because I have the shop next door but for many others, it can be soul destroying waiting for customers to come during the week.”
However, he did say that trade is on the up generally as more people return to the pub for family functions and an old-fashioned night out. “Trade has improved a little and less pubs have closed in the last two years. The pub is still the place for a bit of banter and craic. It will never die, but it is in danger.”
One pub bucking trends is John Daly’s in Mullingar. Managers Ross Brunton and Michael Nivin have turned around the pub around in a few months. Ross says “hard work, great staff, service with a smile and plenty of choice” has seen customers flock to the pub. “We offer Prosecco on tap – sourced locally from Wines Direct – and have a huge range of craft beers and cocktails. We stay up to date with the markets and do things a little differently, like our cocktail jam jars. This is what the customer wants.”
Other aspects like humourous boards outside the pub, good use of social media and support of local musicians have paid off for Ross and his team, but hard work and a positive outlook is the key. “As Millie Walsh says, ‘get up that little bit earlier and work that little bit harder’ and you’ll be OK”.
