Padraig Cribben: 12 months on, all pubs want is a coherent roadmap for hope
A man walks past a closed bar in Dublin on St Patrick’s Day. Picture: Peter Morrison/AP
Twelve months on from the beginning of the Covid crisis, it’s fair to say nobody making key decisions back in March 2020 could have foreseen the depressing circumstances in which we find ourselves today.
As a nation we’re exhausted, anxious, and, to use a well-worn phrase, at the end of our tether.
For the pub sector, and hospitality in general, those feelings are magnified by the complete absence of a reopening roadmap.
The Government says it will be driven by data, not dates. Fair enough, but it needs to clearly communicate to our sector what sort of data will determine when we can reopen.
For instance, what percentage of the population needs to be vaccinated? How far does the daily infection rate need to fall? Will lower ICU and hospital admission numbers remove pressure on the health service, thus allowing for an easing of restrictions?
Without a plan, publicans and the 50,000 staff they employ across the country remain in a cruel limbo. So many questions remain to be answered but meetings between the Government and hospitality sector reveal senior politicians and their civil service advisers steadfast in their refusal to engage on how the trade can open.
Back on March 15, 2020, the decision to close all pubs was seismic. The concept of social distancing was developed, it seemed, on the back of an envelope, and didn’t work in a pub setting so we supported the move to close for an initial two-week period.
Of course, we knew two weeks would morph into a longer period but the general belief was pubs would reopen in May or June at the latest.
What followed was a tortuous set of discussions with government agencies about how and when hospitality would reopen.
Ultimately, the sector opened on June 29 but with one major caveat — traditional pubs (non-food venues) had to remain shut.
As a federation, we fought hard against this decision. By splitting hospitality, the Government created winners and losers in a sector which had, up until that point, been united.
It’s a point we continue to make to the Government every chance we get. When hospitality does reopen, it must be together. There is no difference between an indoor venue that serves food and one that serves drink.
Please don’t make the mistakes of 2020 again this year.
In England, the authorities have recognised that fact so all venues will reopen together, first with outdoor socialising in April and then moving towards full indoor service in May.
The ‘substantial meal’ requirement has disappeared, too.
It’s commonly agreed Ireland’s vaccination programme lags the UK by approximately eight weeks. If that’s the case, we should expect to see pubs fully open here sometime in July, but, right now, nobody in the industry would bet on that happening.
As the lockdown continues, the strain on members ratchets up further. We have welcomed the government supports but the cumulative effect of the length of the lockdown means they are now inadequate.
The Covid restriction support scheme needs to be doubled from its current 10% of turnover, while further restart grants will be required as the sector undertakes its tentative reopening, whenever that is.
The employment wage subsidy scheme will need to be maintained in its present form until the end of the year, as a minimum. Commercial rates should be suspended for the remainder of 2021 also.
Beyond Covid, which is hard to imagine as we head towards another lost Easter, our pubs will make a comeback. Our need to socialise is deep within us — and pubs play a vital role in cities, towns, and villages across the country.
Publicans do, however, worry about how much Covid will have changed consumer habits. Already, the evidence is stark.
While pubs, hotels, and restaurants remain shut, alcohol sales have remained remarkably buoyant, which suggests a surge in home drinking.
We expect most of those people will return to our pubs — it’s the difference between watching a movie at home and going to the cinema. In terms of experience, one far outweighs the other.
But, there are few certainties. As I mentioned, we exist in limbo, unable to plan or strategise for the future.
The contrast between Ireland’s approach to lockdown and other countries is startling, to say the least.
Over the coming weeks and months, our close proximity to the UK, particularly England, will allow us a ringside seat as it peels back each lockdown layer until, on June 21, all restrictions are removed.
Many people here might not agree with Boris Johnson's approach — and he may yet prove to have been overly optimistic — but the British government understood that after a year of unrelenting gloom and despair, people need one thing above all else: Hope.
As a result, the mood in Britain is bullish. Even in the North, the successful rollout of the vaccination programme there has lifted the mood.
Down south we remain locked up in lockdown. For many in secure jobs who can work from home, this means some discomfort but little hardship. They can afford to wait.
For publicans, their 50,000 staff and the wider hospitality sector, hope is absent.
As the Government muses over easing the 5km travel limit and introduction of outdoor sport ahead of April 5, it needs to understand that for the hospitality sector, hope lies in publishing a coherent roadmap towards reopening.
It’s the least the sector deserves.
- Padraig Cribben is chief executive of the Vintners' Federation of Ireland
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