Ireland pubs face more closures
According to a report in the Financial Times, bar sales have fallen by almost a third since 2006 and there are now just 7,509 licensed pubs in the country.
Padraig Cribben, chief executive of the Vintners Federation of Ireland, told the newspaper: “There are many reasons for the decline of the pub, but they centre around changing lifestyles, regulatory changes and the weak economy. People are cash poor due to the recession, and [retail] sales have become a lot cheaper.”
Several thousand publicans demonstrated outside the Irish parliament before last month's budget, demanding action to tackle the crisis in the industry. They called for business rates relief, an excise duty cut and regulatory action to tackle below-cost selling of alcohol by supermarkets. However, the licensees views went largely unheard.
