20 percent of Mayo pubs closed since 2005

20 percent of Mayo’s pubs have closed since 2005


VFI claims overheads the main cause of closures

Anton McNulty

ONE fifth of all pubs and licenced premises in Mayo have closed since 2005. With that figure expected to rise, publicans are claiming that rural pubs are facing extinction.
Since 2005, the number of licenced premises in the county has decreased from 467 in 2005 to 376 by the end of 2013 – a fall of 20 percent. The number of closures throughout the country was outlined to a Joint Oireachtas Committee of Finance, which heard that 1,000 pubs nationwide have closed since 2007.
The 91 closures in Mayo came as no surprise to Kiltimagh publican Marty O’Hora, the PRO of the Mayo Vintners’ Federation of Ireland (VFI), who feels that the overhead costs are putting rural pubs out of business.
“Here in Kiltimagh, when I did up my pub 17 years ago, there were two hotels and 17 pubs. Now there are seven pubs and one hotel. We are basically down to a third of what we had. You would think there would be more business for us, but there is not. A lot of it is down to emigration and hard times; people do not have the money to spend,” he said.
When addressing the Joint Oireactas Committee of Finance, Padraig Cribben, CEO of the VFI, claimed excise was damaging rural pubs and independent off-licences. While agreeing that a lower tax would help, Marty also feels that the sale of cheaper alcohol in supermarkets is hurting pubs too.

Family pubs in jeopardy
Arguing that Council rates are helping to drive family-run pubs out of business, he pointed out that demise of the family pub would ultimately hurt Council finances. Tourism would suffer too, he said.
“The overheads are putting us out of business. Mayo County Council are the beneficiaries and they are the people putting us out of business. There is not a living out of this at the moment. We are just surviving on a good Saturday night and that is it.
“Ask any publican whether he or she will pass their business onto a family member and the answer will be no. There is not a living to be made out of it. They are holding on now because the pub is the family home and will just continue to run it until they pass on. I don’t see many young families coming back to run their family pub, there just isn’t a living to be made of it.
“We talk about building up the tourism industry in this country. A survey on visitors coming into the country asked what they wanted to do in Ireland, and in the top three items, a visit to a pub was one of them. However, we’ll soon get to the stage when the family pub will become extinct,” he lamented.