Bewley's café perk for loyal customers

Dublin’s best known café, rejuvenated after threatened closure, is giving something back to loyal customers today.

Bewley's café will mark 80 years on Grafton Street by handing out free coffees to the public all day from 7am.

The birthday celebrations will also include a feast of free live entertainment with music and dance acts.

Bewley’s, on Grafton Street opened in 1927 in the style of an oriental tea-room and was painstakingly restored in the late 1990s.

The café enjoyed better times in the past year after running up losses.

More than €12m was invested in the two premises in the late 1990s but they suffered badly and were threatened with closure after running up losses of €4m.