JD Wetherspoon prepares for Cork opening

UK pub operator JD Wetherspoon will open its newest pub and first Irish venture outside the capital in Cork next week following a €3.65m investment.

The Linen Weaver pub will open its doors next Tuesday on the premises of the former Newport Bar in the city centre’s Paul Street Plaza, with the creation of 75 new jobs.

The pub will be spaced out over three floors with a rooftop terrace beer garden and two bars.

The Linen Weaver will specialise in real ales, as well as craft and world beers, serving a wide range of different draught ales as well as bottled beers, including those from local and regional brewers, a spokesperson said.

“Myself and my team are looking forward to welcoming customers into the pub and we are confident that it will be a great addition to the Cork community,” said Linen Weaver manager Louie Scott said.

Some Cork favourites, such as Murphy’s stout won’t be on offer, however, after Wetherspoon removed all Heineken products from its pubs last year.

It subsequently resolved its dispute with Heineken in a deal that saw it reinstate the products in its UK stores but not in its Irish outlets.

The UK chain already operates a number of pubs in Dublin and has plans to expand further across the country.

Among its Dublin pubs are the Three Tun Tavern in Blackrock, which was the first to open its doors; the Forty Foot in Dun Laoghaire, and two outlets in Blanchardstown and Swords.

Wetherspoon has plans to open in both Waterford and Carlow in the medium-term, while it also owns a second Cork premises in the Douglas suburb for which it has submitted planning.

The company bought two adjoining sites in Waterford: the former Evans clothing store and former PTSB premises on Broad Street and Arundel Square in the city centre which it is expected to develop.

Overall, the pub chain hopes to open 30 bars in the country over the next five years in addition to the 900 or so it owns in the UK.