Support brewing to save Bewley's

A rally is being held outside Bewley's Café on Dublin's Grafton Street today aimed at gathering support for a survival package for the landmark coffee shop.

The café on Grafton Street and its sister premises on Westmoreland Street are to close at the end of the month.

The Save Bewley's Cafés Campaign is seeking a special tax status for the site to allow the company to operate in profit.

The group claims that Bewley's has become part of our national heritage since it was established in 1840.

Secretary of the group Damien Cassidy denied that the café was out of touch with today’s consumers, and said we should protect what he described as the “crown jewels of the our country’s cultural heritage”.