Almost a quarter of all pubs in the State have closed for business in the past 20 years, according to figures from Drinks Industry Group of Ireland (Digi), the umbrella organisation for the wider drinks and hospitality industry in Ireland.
A total of 2,054 pubs have stopped serving since 2005, the first full year of the smoking ban, it said, and the pace of closure has accelerated in recent years.
An average of 144 pubs a year closed between 2019 and 2023, a period that included the economic turbulence of the Covid-19 pandemic. Many pubs did not open after the Covid-19 enforced closures.
County Limerick has seen the largest decline, with 35.6 per cent of its pubs shutting their doors permanently followed by Roscommon (31.9 per cent), Cork (31.4 per cent), Tipperary (31.2 per cent) and Laois (30.6 per cent).
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All 26 counties have experienced a decline in pub numbers since 2005. The lowest number of pub closures over the period came in Dublin, which has seen a decline of 3 per cent.
Other counties with lower closures rates are the commuter counties of Meath (6.7 per cent), Wicklow (8.9 per cent), Kildare (12 per cent) and Carlow (14.2 per cent).
This latest Digi analysis comes following recently published data by the Restaurants Association of Ireland which found that 283 food-led businesses such as restaurants, cafes and gastropubs closed in the last six months of 2023, with a further 212 such businesses closed so far this year. The industry group was looking at closures since VAT on food was restored last September to 13.5 per cent from a 9 per cent rate brought in during the Covid squeeze on business.
One-in-four of these businesses had seen their costs increase by 20 per cent to 30 per cent in the last two years. An additional 15 per cent found that their business costs had increased by over 40 per cent in the last two years.
Digi reported last week that alcohol consumption in Ireland has fallen by 31 per cent since its peak in 2001 and is now down at levels not seen since 1987.
Retired economics professor Tony Foley, who authored both reports, said large-scale societal change is happening and making it harder for smaller pubs to survive.
“We are also seeing that with many pubs, which are often small, family-run businesses, sustaining business is becoming harder and harder. Fostering commercial sustainability is crucial to safeguarding rural Irish pubs,” he explained.
“Ireland’s drinks and hospitality businesses are operating in an environment where the costs of doing business are ever rising. Energy, insurance, and other cost line items continue to rise, many by double digits.
“The sector is also faced with one of the most regressive excise tax environments for small and medium enterprises in Europe,” he said.
Digi chairwoman Kathryn D’Arcy called on the Government to reduce excise on spirits and beer, which is third highest in Europe, while the excise on wine is the second highest in Europe overall.
“We are calling on Government to deliver a reduction in Ireland’s extremely high excise duties which would make an immediate, positive difference to the hundreds of small businesses in our sector struggling to stay open,” she said. “We have costed, considered plans on how to do this and welcome engaging with Government and others on our proposals.”
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