Licensed Vintners' Association chief, Donall O'Keeffe, warns publicans that high prices could mean losing business to alternatives like restaurants or cinemas. Emmet Oliver reports.

Along with bankers, estate agents, priests and, yes, journalists, publicans are usually down in the lower reaches of most popularity surveys. Donall O'Keeffe thinks he knows why.

"People think publicans just shovel out drink to people, take the money and then kick everyone out drunk a few hours later," he says, before adding that this is one of the many myths he is determined to puncture.

As the new boss of the Licensed Vintners' Association, he says a major part of his job will be to bring some semblance of balance to media coverage of the licensed trade.

"Hundreds of thousands of people go in and out of pubs in Dublin every week and the vast majority drink responsibly and do not cause trouble afterwards."

He says the media don't want to know about this and get more excited by stories of fights, stabbings and disorder outside pubs.

But O'Keeffe is not in his new job to simply bleat about media coverage. He has a background in business and has some tough things to say to publicans themselves, particularly on the cost of drink.

"It is very important for publicans to remember the value for money argument. If our prices fall badly out of line with other leisure alternatives like restaurants, cinemas, house parties, etc, we will suffer accordingly," he says.

He says years ago there was little competition for what he calls the "leisure euro", but now consumers, particularly younger ones, have a plethora of alternative options on a Friday or Saturday night, from restaurants to simply taking out a video or DVD and skipping the pub.

"We have to remember that the total cost of a night out is what matters. We are not the only form of social outlet," he says.

O'Keeffe joins the LVA from PricewaterhouseCoopers where he worked as a management consultant in the business strategy division. Before that he took time out and studied for an MBA at UCD's Smurfit Graduate School of Business. His job before that was with Bord Bia in its Dusseldorf office.

This experience means he can look at the pub trade from the outside and see the problems and the misconceptions held by some members of the public and media. "I have been hired as a professional. I have no family or relations in the business," he says.

What attracted him to the job was the chance to interact with people at a high level and the greater freedom you get when you are at the top of an organisation.

He says the LVA traditionally did its business behind doors, person to person, and maintained a relatively low media profile. But he says the media environment is changing and the treatment of the alcohol story by the media is also changing.

"The coverage is very biased and one-sided. Most of our members are responsible, professional guys trying to run a business as best they can. But of course we hold no brief for rogue operators or people who run their pubs in an irresponsible fashion," he states.

He says stories of unscrupulous publicans ignores one central reality.

"It is not in the interests of any publican to run their business in an irresponsible way. Ultimately such a publican would go out of business.

"We need to protect what I call our social licence, which is the good relations we have with people and groups who allow us to trade and who protect us while we are trading, for example the public, the Garda, Government departments, the media and so on."

There are 720 pub members of the LVA and while some of these establishments undoubtedly do well, O'Keeffe says the notion that publicans in Dublin are operating small gold mines is wide of the mark. "That may have been the case in the mid- to late 1990s, but publicans, in line with the economy generally, have been experiencing a downturn in their businesses. There is greater uncertainty and people are more careful with their disposable income."

He says the two major costs involved in running a pub - pay and insurance - have greatly increased and this is hitting the bottom lines of even the biggest operators.

"We have huge public liability insurance costs to carry. There are more claims than ever before by customers, and publicans are targeted by some individuals. And remember a huge amount of people come in and out of pubs on any one day."

Apart from media myths, he says politicians and policymakers can also spread misinformation, particularly about entry to the business. He claims licences can now be obtained relatively easily (albeit at cost) because licences outside Dublin can be transferred to Dublin, thereby easing the licence crisis of a few years ago.

"There is a licence for every 300 people in the country. So nobody can talk about a lack of licences any more.

"They remain assets all right, but their value has more than halved in recent years. A few years ago they were worth between €150,000 and €170,000, now they are going for between €70,000 and € 80,000."

He says the other thing you need to enter the business is planning permission for your premises and that is where the real problems occur, with residents in the suburbs vociferous in their objections.

The most popular way to enter the business, he says, is to buy an existing pub, which in Dublin at present are selling on average for €3 million. "Of course you can lease a business. But that is not as popular an option".

Apart from the obvious reason that profits could take a hammering if total deregulation took place, he says the LVA is against such a step for a more fundamental reason.

"We are selling a mood- altering drug. We are not selling pens, glasses or mobile phones." He says research across Europe shows that increasing the number of outlets increases alcoholic consumption and ultimately alcoholic abuse.

Public outrage at publicans is also caused when stories circulate about drink prices going up. O'Keeffe believes the coverage of this issue is "very simplistic".

"There are a range of costs. A pint can cost anything from €3.75 to €5.00, depending on the premises.

"But you have to remember there is market segmentation and pubs charge different rates depending on their circumstances and the kind of pub they are. If they have spent a lot on refurbishing the place, then that has obviously got to be recouped," he says.

He adds that there are three components to the price of drink and publicans only control one of them: their own costs and margins. But he says they have no role over the other two factors: the price big drink suppliers charge, and excise and VAT imposed by the Government.