Pub thoughts from abroad
Our article about the decline in the pub trade attracted a large response from readers and not much of it will make for comfortable reading for our publicans.
“They are dying and it is sad to see,” writes John Shannon who placed the blame “fairly and squarely at the publicans’ door”.
He likes German wheat beers and asked in his local some time ago about getting some in stock. “I was eventually told that they could not get them from their supplier. These beers are available just about everywhere. So a customer was lost through sheer laziness. Publicans need to look at things from the customers’ perspective. Why would a potential customer leave his warm and cosy house, where he is drinking his cheaper beer without fear of drink-driving laws or prohibitive taxi fares? Is there good food available at a reasonable price? Is the pub offering music or other entertainment of some sort? That doesn’t mean wall-to-wall Sky Sports at 110 decibels, by the way. Is there a beer garden in summer, or a play area for children? Is getting a cup of tea or coffee a Cecil B de Mille production or a simple request? The old ways are gone. Publicans have few friends after their greed of recent years, so it’s a case of evolution or extinction I’m afraid.”
Next up was US reader Tom Murphy who holidayed in Ireland last August. He says the pubs brought the problems on themselves.
“When we had a mess of young children coming back from the beach in the evening, we sought out a pub for food and drink, money at the ready,” says Murphy. The response from the publican was that no food can be ordered after 8pm and kids must be out of the pub by 9pm, with no exceptions.
“Nothing like later when the parents came back for a pint and could illegally stay until dawn. Off we’d have to go to Supermacs and the shop for food, wine, drinks and beer, and home we’d go. An old habit broken, a new one born; good money going out the door.”
Denis Lyons read the article from his home in Toronto. “It’s easy to blame the recession, the cost of alcohol in supermarkets compared with pubs or the smoking ban,” he writes. “That is too simple. I live in Toronto. Here we have alcohol sold outside of pubs, the economy is not so great, we have a smoking ban and an active police force out to stop drunk driving. Our bars, restaurants and hotels selling drinks are doing very well thank you.
“What’s the difference? There are too many pubs in Ireland. A case in point would be Drumshanbo in Co Leitrim. I go to the Joe Mooney festival there each July. A few years ago, there were seven pubs side-by-side on the high street as well as a good number in other locations in the town. Over the last few years, a good number of these have closed. Bad for the festival but not so for the town. I remember counting the number of pubs on the Falls Road in Belfast. From Castle Junction to the Springfield Road there were 29 pubs. A friend of mine tried to drink his way up the road but didn’t get far. A smaller number of good pubs rather than many mediocre ones would be better.”
The hidden cost of a visible cycle jacket
John McCabe suggested that, based in his experience, it may be an opportune time to re-highlight “the lousy exchange rates offered by UK chains in Ireland”.
Recently he attempted to buy an orange waterproof cyclist’s jacket in a Halford’s in Carrickmines, Co Dublin. The jacket had a tag which said 39.99. However, at the checkout he was asked for €53. “When I queried the price, it became clear that the price on the garment was £39.99 and no euro price was visible at all.”
McCabe says that based on this conversion rate, the shop was paying 75.5p per euro, when the banks were quoting 83p.
“I then checked other sizes/jackets. A bright yellow jacket was priced at £29.99/€39.99 (a rate of 75p) and, worse still, numerous items had a sterling-only price. With the UK VAT rate having just gone up, I believe the euro price should have come down, not up. Needless to say, I didn’t purchase the item but am going to visit my local bike shop instead.”
