Vintners launch new campaign marking one year since pubs first closed

Pubs first closed on this day last year. File picture: Larry Cummins

Two vintners associations in Ireland are launching a campaign to highlight the people in the industry who have been out of work for much of the last year.

It comes on the one-year anniversary of the pubs first closing due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Last year, pubs were called on to close “until at least 29 March” 2020.

The #NotDisposable campaign is aimed at reminding the public of the many people behind pubs, hospitality, arts and entertainment who have largely been out of work since last March.

The Licensed Vintners Association (LVA) and the Vintners Federation of Ireland (VFI) say the campaign will see hundreds of pubs and individuals posting pre-pandemic photos of the people who work in these sectors.

The two groups said that in the last year around 250 traditional pubs in Dublin have not opened for a single day, while the majority of pubs in the country were only able to trade for a period of two weeks in late September.

Only pubs that served food have been allowed to open at certain points in the last year. 

The #NotDisposable campaign has been inspired by comments made by performer Rory O’Neill last month.

"Everything just ended. It turns out that our industry was utterly disposable"

Drag performer and gay rights activist Rory O' Neill joined us to chat about how his business, Panti Bar, has been affected by the pandemic. #SixVMTV pic.twitter.com/HZNmrjsTif

— The Six O'Clock Show (@SixOClockShow) February 16, 2021

 

“I read this thing that I just can’t get out of my head, 70% of the population have saved money during the pandemic and I was like I live in a parallel universe because everybody I know who works in the entertainment industry or the bar or hospitality, we’ve all lost everything,” the bar owner told The Six O’Clock Show.

“So I spend all my days arguing with the bank over mortgage payments or whatever because everything just ended.

“It turns out that our industry is utterly disposable. I think the experience of the pandemic has been very different for different sections of the population.” 

Padraig Cribben, Chief Executive of the VFI, said the comments captured the mood of the industry.

“Before the pandemic approximately 50,000 people were directly employed in 7,000 pubs across Ireland.

“Thousands more were employed by suppliers, worked as entertainers, as musicians, as DJs, as security and in other roles.

“When you also consider the rest of the hospitality, arts and entertainment sectors, you’re talking about hundreds of thousands of people who have been impacted.

“We want to show the important role all these people play and of what they brought to our day to day experiences pre pandemic,” he said.

Hopefully we’ll be back behind the counter doing our jobs #notdisposable pic.twitter.com/c4XuFEw8TK

— TOMMY O GARAS (@GarasTommy) March 14, 2021

Donall O’Keeffe, Chief Executive of the LVA, said that the hospitality sectors have been “vital pillars of our society, of the economy, of Irish life”.

Mr O’Keeffe said: “When all this began no one could have anticipated how much of an impact the pandemic would have on these sectors. No one could have expected that one year on we would still be in the dark as to when we might be able to get back to work.

“We want to remind the public of the people behind these sectors, to remind them of the contribution made by these people and why that matters. We hope the public will see this campaign and be reminded of what they have to look forward to when the time comes to safely reopen again.

“We want to take Rory’s heartfelt words and turn them into a rallying call, showing why these sectors and the people behind them are #NotDisposable.”