Customers tuck into €5 credit crunch lunch

LUNCH for the price of a pint! Well it has almost come to that in one Limerick pub.

The “credit crunch lunch” at the Corner Flag in Henry Street is now on offer for €5.

Publican Eddie Fitzgerald said falling lunchtime trade necessitated a special response.

Mr Fitzgerald: “We have just started the €5 lunches and will give it a lash. Already we have seen a pick-up in business. With the economy in trouble more people are bringing their own sandwiches with them to work rather than go out to lunch. So we have the new credit crunch lunch to help win back business.”

Customers can choose from a selection of Shepherd’s Pie and side salad, lasagne and side salad; baked potato and choice of fillings, side salad. The €5 price includes tea or coffee.

Mr Fitzgerald said: “Things are very competitive here in Limerick. But our suppliers have brought down their prices and this has enabled me to offer this €5 lunch. I won’t make much profit out of it, but I might as well get people in the door and they might have a mineral with their lunch.”

Eddie, who manages the Young Munster senior rugby side, said the portions were “decent enough size”.

He expects the new lunch price will prove very attractive to students.

“We get a lot of students in from Mary Immaculate College and the Limerick Tutorial Centre. So when these colleges reopen after the holidays, our low-cost price lunch should be attractive to the students,” he said.

Yesterday the Corner Flag was doing a lively lunch trade.

One customer said: “I think it’s a great idea. I don’t go out to lunch as often as I used to due to the levy on my wages. But for a fiver you can’t go wrong.”