Bewley's landmark Dublin cafes will cease trading this evening, even as a campaign to save them continues.
Supporters will mount a vigil outside the Grafton Street premises when it closes at 6 p.m., after 77 years in business.
The older Westmoreland Street branch will close at the same time, leaving the city centre without a Bewley's cafe for the first time since 1884. Some of the 234 staff have already left since the company announced the closures on October 29th, citing €4 million losses.
Many others are expected to be redeployed to other jobs in Campbell Catering, the company that bought the cafes - then also in severe financial difficulty - in 1986.
The last day will be marked in the Grafton Street branch by songs and poetry readings from the Bewley's Theatre Company.
As well as the evening vigil, the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Cllr Michael Conaghan, and others campaigning to save the cafes will gather at 1.30 p.m. in Grafton Street for speeches, songs and readings.
A spokesman for BOSCA - the Bewley's Oriental Saved Cafes Alliance - said that although today's closures could not be averted, the campaign to save them was going "fantastically well".
Mr Paul Quilligan added that the campaign was being "rolled out slowly" and would continue in the coming weeks and months.
"We're going from A to Z, and we've only got to about H at the moment," he said.
A key element in the group's strategy is to amend the Dublin city draft development plan to allow for the preservation of a building's usage as well as its physical construction.
An amendment has been tabled and is expected to be debated by Dublin City Council some time during December.
Mr Quilligan said there was "no imminent danger" of the cafes being redeveloped. The shop at the front of the Grafton Street premises will continue to operate tomorrow and through Christmas, in keeping with the terms of its lease.
The Westmoreland Street branch will close completely, however. Campbells hope to expand the existing hotel on the site.
Bewley's, a history of the company written by journalist Hugh Oram and originally published in 1980, is now being reprinted.
The book is expected to appear in shops next week.
