‘Austerity forces closure’ of upmaket restaurant

Austerity has led to the closure of an upmarket and Michelin-recommended restaurant in Killarney, its owners have claimed.

Chapter Forty restaurant, in New Street, has become a victim of the downturn. Co-owner Mark Murphy yesterday said austerity was leading to the closure of small businesses: “If you take money out of someone’s pocket, it means they can’t put money into someone else’s pocket.”

He said the restaurant which employed 11 staff had battled the recession but it eventually got hold of them: “It was like getting to the 11th round of a 12-round fight but we could go no further.”

Many local hotels offer all-in packages, including food, and that is also hitting local restaurants, he said.

“A town like Killarney has so many different eateries of different qualities and for different spends. We don’t fit into that market any more,” said Mr Murphy, also a culinary arts lecturer at IT Tralee.

Killarney Chamber of Commerce and Tourism vice-president Johnny McGuire, also a restaurateur, lamented the closure of Chapter Forty: “Killarney depends on providing a great variety of places in which to dine and Chapter Forty set very high standards over the past eight years.

“The loss of a restaurant of such calibre, which sent out all the right signals about where Killarney needs to be at, is a terrible blow.”

Mr McGuire, of Bricin Restaurant, also said he empathised with the people who had lost their jobs.

“In our own business, four years ago, we had to end a lunch trade we had been doing for 16 years and I know that having to lay people off was a very difficult thing to do,” he said.