Publicans living from week to week

Hard pressed publicans are finding it difficult to get the necessary credit from the banks to order their Christmas stock of alcohol.

And as it stands now, owners of some of the county’s smaller pubs are only in a position to order on a week to week basis.

When pubs were booming, the Christmas stock was ordered the first week in December and they would even order enough to see them through January and February. It was also an era when part payment for the stock could be made in January with the remainder of the bill being settled up the following month.

But now both the suppliers and the banks have become more cautious as many pubs are going through an extremely lean period. When they used to have possibly two weeks of solid trade over the Christmas and New Year period, this has now been reduced to a handful of days.

And former Vintners President, Paul O’Grady said that the month of November was one of the most bleak in the pub trade that he had ever come across.

“And it looks like January and February will be starvation months for the pub trade. The reduction in public sector pay along with the cuts in social welfare have to impact severely.

“There is no doubt that leases of pubs will be handed back and there will be no one around to take over the reins when this happens. Pub closures will be the rule rather than the exception”, he said.

Mr. O’Grady said that even the reduction in the excise duty was “too little, too late” as far as the pubs were concerned.

Meanwhile, a large percentage of publicans have already implemented the decrease – although many have refused and say that they will not be doing so until their current stock has been sold.

Those who have implemented the decrease following the reduction in excise duty have reduced the price of the pint by around 15 to 20 cent. Many publicans implemented it on the night of the Budget but there are many who are holding firm and will not pass on the decrease in the price of the pint until the New Year.

President of the Vintners Federation of Ireland,Val Hanley said that most publicans in Galway city were taking 15 cent off the price of beer, cider, lagers and spirits. He advocated that all pubs follow suit. However, some pubs in rural parts of Galway have not implemented the price cut and told their customers that they would not be doing so until after Christmas.

The average price of the pint of stout and beer in most rural pubs was €3.90 and this has now been reduced to €3.75 . . . but it pays to shop around as some publicans have the pint even cheaper than this.