Iconic pubs in Mullingar, including The Bridge House, Austin Friar Street, Smiddy’s, Dominick Street and Canton Casey’s, Market Square, finally opened their doors this week after an incredible five months and locals were thrilled to have the opportunity to visit the popular drinking establishments (which now all serve food) once again.
Gerry Bawle opened the doors to Canton Casey’s on Monday at 5pm to 10pm and was extremely happy with the reaction from patrons. “All the rest of the pubs were opening up so we decided that if we didn’t open up this week, we mightn’t open up until winter. If we waited, it wouldn’t be worth our while as the weather will change soon and the summer would be gone .”
Canton’s has teamed up with Oscar’s, Oliver Plunkett Street, in order to serve food with alcohol to comply with current regulations and are serving dishes such as sweet and sour chicken, Thai coconut shrimp salad and pizza. Gerry said the reopening has gone down a storm with locals. “Monday went really well. I wanted to get comfortable with the new layout and taking food orders, taking temperatures and all that kind of craic.”
Customers will also need to supply their name and numbers and sanitise their hands upon entering the building where currently four staff members are on duty. “I’m really glad we’re open because it’s all about meeting people and giving them a social outing. I put the announcement on Facebook today and people were absolutely thrilled that we were opening. Casey’s is an iconic building in Mullingar and during the warm weather there is always a buzz on the square so we’re very happy to be back!”
Earlier this month many publicans were left extremely disappointed when it was announced that instead of on August 10, pubs were told they were not to reopen until 31 August at the earliest and the decision will be reviewed in three weeks’ time.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin also said that pubs serving food and restaurants will have to close by 11pm. However, he said he would not use the word “curfew”.
Tánaiste Leo Varadkar said all customers would have to be off these premises by 11pm but staff could stay to clean up and he said they could stay open for takeaways and deliveries.
He said they want to stop any restaurants that may have been operating almost as pubs.
However, Mullingar publicans held an emergency meeting last week, and now, many of the publicans in Mullingar have decided to reopen their doors.
“We have to serve food obviously, so we are going that route,” Kieran Smith of Smiddy’s explained. “Smiddy’s will serve food from Eddie Rocket’s. There’s no point in being downbeat about it. We just have to play the hand we’re dealt, and keep on going so it’s going to be a poor end to the year but we have next year to look forward to with the Fleadh and all that craic,” said the popular publican.
The meeting took place last Wednesday at Newbury Hotel and it was decided among the attendees that they would do their utmost to salvage what was left of the season. “It wasn’t a collective decision but everyone who was there gave their own view on the situation and the bulk of the publicans who have yet to open, indicated that they were going to do so.
“I’m going to open Monday myself. There is an eatery beside all the pubs. I have a good relationship with Deccy (Declan Mc Guinness) from Eddie Rockets. They always looked after us before and we used to get food there if there was a big match on the TV and we would give out food, we would always get it from there. It’s the first bit of positivity we got in a couple of months and it’s through no effort from the Government. Some were giving out about the Government and we’ve all been let down by them. They don’t seem to have any issue with the pubs being closed and we’ve seen in the past that Michael Martin has no gra for the pub so we had to make the decision ourselves. We’ll move forward as a body together and trying to get it sorted out ourselves.” he enthused.
He said that the initiative was simply about just keeping the doors open, and not a money-making exercise. “The more doors open, the more you’ll see people walking up the street. It’s a positive, whether pub, restaurant or hairdresser or shop, it gives a better vibe to the town.”
The Bridge House on Austin Friar Street also finally opened it’s doors after five long months and Matt and Nicki Cullen spoke to Topic about a recent report which stated that pubs have not had a single Covid-19 outbreak traced back to them since they reopened almost six weeks ago, the Department of Health has confirmed. “We have opened this week for the first time in five months. “The pubs are making every effort to space everything out and ensure that there is a distance between everyone and encouraging safety and of course they are wearing masks and shields. You have people at house parties who are stuck together and here we have distance all the time.”
