A north Dublin publican has said he does not think his business can survive “much longer” after remaining closed for almost 500 days.
Ollie Grimes, owner of the Snug in Skerries, said the last 15 months have been “extremely difficult” and that he has spent over €100,000 to make his pub more “Covid-friendly”.
Indoor dining and drinking was set to reopen from Monday but concern about the spread of the Delta variant of Covid-19 postponed the move.
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The Cabinet has decided to delay the full reopening of the hospitality sector until there is a workable plan for how customers can prove they have been vaccinated.
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Mr Grimes said such a move would be “very difficult to manage and unworkable” for staff and customers.
“We don’t have the right to ask people whether they’re vaccinated or not,” he told The Irish Times.
“I have something here that’s very workable, if I could just get it open. I spent in excess of €100,000 putting together a nice Covid-friendly lounge. Once again we’ve been refused to be allowed open by the Government. It’s been pretty much a tragedy.
“The writing was on the wall from the Government so we had a fair idea we weren’t going to open on July 5th but we were certainly hoping that by July 19th, when the airports are back open and people are free to travel, that we would be able to open.”
Target date
Mr Grimes said while he understands the position of the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) and the HSE, “it feels like we’re going round in circles”.
“I don’t think we can survive much longer. At the end of it, these pubs will be worth nothing,” he added. “Some vulture fund will probably come in and pick up a load of pubs cheap and start a new type of business.
“It’s going to be very difficult for us to survive. We’ve a lot of paying back to do at this stage.”
The pub owner said the Government must provide a roadmap for when the sector can reopen fully immediately.
“We just need a date, to know exactly what we’re working with. We don’t need to be led down the garden path anymore with false promises. Just give us a target date,” Mr Grimes said.
“Pubs have done a very good job dealing with outdoor dining. People are safe, it’s being managed and it’s tidied up the mess that was going on on the streets of Dublin.
“If we can just take it to the next level, indoors, we can provide a safe environment for everybody...We know this virus isn’t going to go away, there could be more waves to follow, we can’t just stay closed. The country can’t afford it.”
