Pubs suffer from pre-Christmas freeze

Pubs suffer from pre-Christmas freeze


Anton McNulty

PUBLICANS in Mayo face an uncertain 2011 after the big freeze affected their trading over the traditionally busy pre-Christmas period and the new budget will mean people deciding to go less to the pub.
The thaw on St Stephen’s Day was described as a ‘godsend’ by Marty O’Hora of Mayo Vintners Federation of Ireland who told The Mayo News that the pre Christmas period had been ‘very quiet’ because people would not venture out at night because of the freezing conditions.
The pre-Christmas period is usually one of the busiest times of the year for publicans but trading was low throughout the county with a number of Christmas parties cancelled and  some premises deciding not to open at all. Mr O’Hora said that pubs have been affected by the low turnout and this will put pressure on pubs relying on revenue generated at this time of the year.
“Trade over the pre-Christmas period was very quiet with very few customers going out during the week. Pre-Christmas is a time when a certain number of people would have a few drinks but because of the weather people were too worried about the conditions and are not drinking at all. With trade being quiet, you still have the overheads to pay and publicans had to make the decision whether to open at all. It put a lot of pressure on people.
“The thaw was a godsend but we were afraid it would freeze again but as it happens, it has got milder and hopefully people will start going out. When people are off work we try to get money made during that time and with the fact they will not have spent as much money before Christmas, hopefully they will spend it with us,” he said.
The big freeze could not have come at a worst time for publicans who had been hoping for a busy Christmas after a quiet end of the year. Marty explained that the New Year will be very difficult for many publicans and predicts more will leave the business.
“With the budget people are going to have less money to spend and the quick fix for many to save money will be not to go to the pub as much. Trade has been quiet and if people will have less money to spend that is not good for us. There are people who have spent money renovating their pubs in the good times and they have big mortgages which will put pressure on them. People might be prepared to take a fee for their licence and convert their property for other retail uses. There are challenging times ahead for any of us who intend to stay on and try to meet those challenges,” he concluded.