Decimated rural pubs will need grants to survive, says publican

Rural pubs are so decimated that, within 20 years, the Government will have to provide grants for them to open in the summer to cater for tourists, says a Cork publican.

Benny McCabe, who owns six licensed premises in the city, added that businesses within the city are also suffering, as potential customers in the 25-35 age bracket “have gone off the scene” either through emigration or being cash broke.

He spoke out as he received the Cork Business Association quarterly Business of the Year Award for small-to-medium size business.

The large business winner in the quarterly awards is the four-star luxury Silver Springs Moran Hotel.

The hotel was taken over by the Moran family in 2000 and remains a landmark of Cork hospitality.

The Moran family and management team at the hotel have made huge progress in developing the facility even further, including renovation of all 109 executive guest rooms, bar and lounge area, along with launching the Watermarq restaurant.

With a conference and exhibition centre to facilitate 1,500, the Silver Springs is one of the top conference and event venues in the south of Ireland. It also boasts a fully-equipped leisure centre.

Mr McCabe said it was “a national shame” the traditional pub business was dying due to a combination of “excessive EU compliance laws, the avalanche of home drinking, further compounded by the disappearance of 25- to 35-year-olds in the past 18 months”.

Controlling six pubs including the winning recipient The Bodega, Mr McCabe said the loss of a big chunk of Cork’s young people will lead to the closure of nightclubs and pubs. “It’s absolutely frightening what’s happening,” he said.

“It’s hard to hold the line for pubs in cities these days. But, in the countryside, it’s even worse. I guarantee you, in 20 years’ time, rural publicans will be getting grants to open in the summer for tourists. Rural villages will otherwise be closed for nine months of the year.”

Mr McCabe said the Government had to protect pubs but he was worried rural premises will be let to die out before they are revived.

“The Government has to back off on over-compliance of strict licensing laws,” he said.

Mr McCabe accepted the award last night at a ceremony in The Bodega.

CBA president Ernest Cantillon said great credit was due to Mr McCabe for buying a number of his bars during the downturn and making them a success.