PubsPublicans say stricter enforcement of drink driving laws has the market for rural pubs in freefall, reports Ella Shanahan

"The social fabric of the countryside is coming apart. Many country pubs are run by old people. When they die, that will be the end of that business. They are not getting a living out of the pub - a lifestyle, not a living," says John Shelly of Shelly Purcell Auctioneers in Carrick-on-Suir, Co Tipperary. "Rural pubs were supported by old farmers who are no longer going to the pub because of the drink driving laws."

He has quite a few country pubs on his book but they are not selling. "It's a very poor market," and prices have dropped.

And how much have prices dropped? "It's only a guessing game now ... nearly 50 per cent. You would get €180,000 for the licence and you'll be left with the building. The prospects for increasing turnover are very limited. They will all go eventually," he predicts.

Brian McDonagh runs a family pub at Kilcorban, near Portumna, Co Galway. He says that, recently, the biggest thing to hit rural pubs was the smoking ban. "We have survived that. We can't survive the new drink driving laws."

In 1990, he remembers, the rental value of a country pub was £500-£600 a week. "You would be lucky to get €300-€400 now, really lucky, and you would be lucky to find someone for it."

His pub is fortunate to have two niches in the market: "The 40 to 50-year-olds with off-farm income, living with a father or mother, no expenses, no mortgage, no children" and "we're a very good landmark as an equestrian pub. People who ride at Flower Hill [the riding centre nearby] come in their wellies. My customers are sitting at the bar in welly boots and overalls and they're more than welcome."

But he also has a farm, a shop - financed by the pub - petrol pumps, is project manager with Milltown Engineering, and his wife works with him.

Padraig Smith, an auctioneer in Ballyjamesduff in Co Cavan, has four rural pubs on his books "and I haven't even been asked the price. The only way I can sell a rural pub is to sell the licence and the property as commercial.

"A rural pub in Cavan at the low end would make €400,000; good ones would sell very well, up to €1 million, but they're not for sale. Five years ago, you wouldn't have one on the market for three months. Up to three to four years ago, if you put a pub up, there would be half a dozen people to rent it. But if a footballer or local mixer bought a pub, he would be flying - if it was run as a young pub, with disco music. They are the ones who are spending the money."

Paul Stevenson, president of the Vintners' Federation of Ireland, which represents some 5,100 publicans outside Dublin city and county, blames the Government in particular, but also the supermarket multiples for selling beer and spirits as loss leaders.

He says water and refuse collection charges increased by 255 per cent in six years, while electricity and gas increased by 85 per cent. "In that period the cumulative average inflation was only 32.4 per cent. Excise duty on beer is 10 times that of Spain, Germany or Luxembourg. Most price increases are outside the control of the publicans."

There are too many pubs, he says, and now there is quite a lot of negative equity in country pubs. Many open only in the evenings, but the overheads are the same whether the pub is open all day or just in the evenings.

Stevenson, a publican in Ballymote, Co Sligo, says the new drink driving laws will have a serious impact on rural communities where there is little or no public transport. But he is not all pessimism either: "I'm not calling for a booze bus, but if you have people unemployed in a small town, they might provide a minibus for all local events as well as the pub. It would provide a service and a need. If the Government is serious, let's put down criteria and give VAT and VRT relief for people who provide a proper carrier for a rural community transport service. It's not up to publicans or chemists to provide transport."

And he adds: "My great belief is that we must start reinventing ourselves. People's changing lifestyles will contribute to that. The food offering must change. It's no longer acceptable to have just a pie and chips. We must consider maybe organic or ethnic food, or have an internet café. But it's very difficult to convince someone to borrow a couple of hundred thousand for a kitchen."