Businessman offers pub rent-free in bid to woo back customers

A businessman is giving away his pub rent-free for six months in a bid to attract customers back.

Up until March Mary Deeney’s Bar in Donegal was a thriving business. But the tenant landlord left and it was due to close its doors for a few weeks.

However, owner Jim McLaughlin said it has been impossible to find somebody to lease the bar, located on the outskirts of the village of Muff.

Now the businessman, aged 50, is offering the bar and restaurant rent-free for six months to the new tenant.

“I have always been known for doing things a little differently and I’m hoping this will give someone a good start. We have to agree a deal on a lease but the offer of six months’ free rent is a great bonus, I think. This was a landmark pub and there is no reason why the right person couldn’t return it to its former glory,” he said.

The bar employed 14 people when it closed. It has a traditional thatched roof and stone façade, and is noted for its 150ft steel Christmas tree.

In its heyday the bar was a hive of activity. Jim raised €100,000 for the Donegal Hospice through events surrounding the bar in the 1990s.

Jim feels the smoking ban was a huge blow to pub culture in Donegal. “When the smoking ban was introduced people began to go to off-licenses and realised they could get their drink much cheaper. But the off-licenses do not have the overheads that a bar has. The government might have thought they were doing good but they have cost thousands of jobs and torn the life out of a major part of Irish life,” he said.

Jim added that since putting up a sign outside his bar offering it rent-free for six months, he has received a number of inquiries. He has yet to fix a price on a possible lease but is willing to be flexible to get the bar open again with the right tenant.

“I am due to meet a number of people who are prepared to give it a go. I will give them as much support as they need. If they take a chance on me then I will take a chance on them.

“Mary Deeney’s Bar was a thriving business and there’s no reason why it can’t be again. We did great food and had a great atmosphere and that can all return. I’m taking a chance but if someone is prepared to take a chance in return, then we can make it work again,” he said.