2,500 Dublin jobs lost since pubs closed

Ten Dublin pubs have ceased trading for good since the pubs were closed last March and in that time “at least 2,450 jobs” have been lost in the Dublin pub trade sector, according to figures released today by the Licensed Vintners Association.

 

This represents more than one in every five of the 12,000 jobs generated by Dublin pubs before the beginning of the crisis.

The Association reckons that just over 18 jobs were lost per day on average since the 15^th of March closure and it has indicated there may also be further significant job losses ahead with almost one in three Dublin pubs yet to re-open and any pubs that have re-opened are now operating at 50% capacity or less.

The 10 pubs across Dublin that have ceased trading since the mid-March closure include The Queens in Dalkey, The Donaghmede Inn and The Cardiff Inn in Finglas.

“At the outset of this crisis, pubs in Dublin and across the country acknowledged the need to close our doors for the good of public health,” said LVA Chief Executive Donall O’Keeffe, “This continues to be the responsible course of action but it has had a real and serious economic impact on the pub sector in Dublin with one in five losing their jobs.

“This is incredibly hard on these individuals and their families.

“There’s a lot of uncertainty in the sector about future business and employment prospects. Almost one-third of the pubs in Dublin are yet to re-open and their viability is further threatened every additional day they remain closed. Any business or employer would struggle if they had no income for 40% of a year, which is the situation facing pubs who will not open before 10^th August.

“A further tangible sign of that struggle comes in the form of the 10 Dublin pubs who’ve ceased trading and decided to keep their doors closed for good. The loss of these businesses will be felt by the workers, the publicans involved and by their local communities. Sadly, these are unlikely to be the last Dublin pubs to take such a step this year.

“We expect there will be significant further redundancies should the public health situation require additional delays in the re-opening of pubs. As it is, even those pubs who are trading have had to let some workers go and/or reduce the number of hours and level of salary provided to account for pub capacity being reduced to 50% or less of their pre-crisis levels. These problems are multiplied for pubs who are not in a situation to take in any income.

“This time last year, Dublin pubs were having difficulty finding sufficient staff, such were the number of jobs being created. How that picture has now changed,” he concluded, “To what extent the employment outlook further darkens will depend on the trading situation and the public health prognosis in the weeks and months ahead”.