'Upset and weary' restaurant and pub owners hit out at reopening delays

Thousands of euro in stock will be wasted and staff and customers left at a loose end, upset business owners have said

Denis Cotter with a takeaway order ready for collection from Paradiso, Lancaster Quay, Cork. Picture: Larry Cummins

“Upset and weary” is how chef and restaurant owner Noel Keane felt after hearing that the return of indoor dining would be postponed once more.

He said the lack of clarity was destroying viable businesses.

Alcohol and dry goods orders were already arriving to Croí, his 80-seat restaurant in Tralee, Co Kerry, in anticipation of the now-cancelled reopening of indoor dining on July 5.

“This is the third time we’ve been closed with very little notice," he said.

“It doesn’t just affect us; it affects all our suppliers, the printers, the laundries, our families.

We’re all tired from it, we’re all worn down. For the first time in my life, I had serious mental health struggles earlier this year.

“I know people who have walked away from their businesses, walked away from their dream, because they could not take the uncertainty.

“Hospitals now have very low numbers of Covid patients but hospitality is flatlining and there is no ICU for us.

“We can’t keep taking these blows.” 

The National Public Health Emergency Team’s (Nphet) advice is that indoor dining should only be permitted for the fully vaccinated, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said.

Mr Keane said he has serious concerns about the legality of policing this. 

“Asking people ‘Are you vaccinated?' is asking a medical question," he said, explaining his discomfort with doing such a thing. 

"So will we be breaking the law if we ask? And if they refuse to say or they’re not vaccinated, do we have to refuse entry? And if so, is that discrimination?"

He also asked why antigen tests were consistently sidelined in this country when they had been used effectively in other jurisdictions.

Denis Cotter of Paradiso restaurant on Washington St, Cork City, had already decided not to open his restaurant for indoor dining before July 20, assuming the July 5 date was too early.

"At least we have a couple of weeks where we don’t have to cancel people," he said.

"And the focus now is on vaccines. If we make serious progress on that in the next few weeks then we may be more ready."

Having to operate his restaurant at just 45% capacity, or rearranging a few indoor bookings for outside instead, are in reality "small problems", Mr Cotter said.

"The Government’s job is not to bow to industry pressure.

"It’s the Government’s job to, first of all, look after the health of the population. And secondly, if they do have to put restrictions on businesses then to look after those businesses, and they’ve done that really well so far." 

He said that people have reacted positively to outdoor dining and he believes it will continue in Ireland post-pandemic. 

Another Cork publican with foresight, Maureen McLaughlin, had not planned to reopen Maureen's in Shandon until October when more people will be vaccinated and things "even out".

But the changes brought by the pandemic have made her examine other ways to “serve the community without serving alcohol.” 

“I’m now thinking of new ways to use the space," she said.

Jack Costello of the Locke Bar, Limerick. Picture:  Brian Arthur

Under the proposed rules for being vaccinated if dining indoors, Jack Costello, who runs the Locke Bar in Limerick City, would not be able to enjoy a pint inside his own pub, as he is yet to be vaccinated.

He said pushing the date back makes sense, but that the industry won’t be happy about it.

However, he said the recommendations for indoor dining to be restricted to people who are fully vaccinated “just doesn’t make sense". 

“I don't think that's going to fly well with the industry and the public as a whole. I don’t think it appropriate to ask someone for their health past if they want a pint or a bite to eat,” Mr Costello said.

Mike Ryan runs Pharmacia, another popular pub in Limerick. He has labelled the delayed reopening as a farce.

“Why are we being left behind, yet again? We can travel around the country no bother, but cannot go inside for a meal and a drink — it is gone beyond the joke,” said Mr Ryan.

Publicans and restauranteurs will now be left with unusable stock, ordered for the return of indoor dining, he said.