Loss making rural pubs want a general spending boost – not handouts

THE headline on Dan Buckley’s feature article in your issue of August 28 – ‘Creaming the profits’ – totally misleads your readers about the true state of the pub business. Far from “creaming” profits, most pubs in the Vintners Federation of Ireland (VFI) are losing money, as recent independent research showed.

Dan Buckley has taken a partial view of the state in which many pubs find themselves and offers a very simplistic solution to the stressful problems facing publicans around the country.

His reaction to the statement issued by the VFI is somewhat misguided. The VFI did not look for handouts but rather put forward reasoned proposals to encourage spending in the general economy – not just the pub trade – that echo the calls of many other groups over recent months.