B&Bs may be dwindling in number but they're not a thing of the past 

There's been an 80% drop in the number of bed & breakfasts in the last few decades but reforms in the way they are registered and supported are aimed at helping the sector survive

Josephine Devitt in her B&B, Copperfield House in Cashel, Co Tipp. She is proud of the large amount of repeat business she has received: 'You know you’re doing something right'.  Picture: Denis Minihane

Once the beating heart of Ireland’s tourism sector, the traditional B&B is disappearing from many small towns and tourist hotspots.

There has been an 80% decline in the number of B&Bs in Ireland in the last two decades or so, a seismic decline by any measure.