1 in 5 Galway pubs unlikely to obtain tax clearance this October?

According to a report in the Connacht Tribune, over one in five pubs in Galway County will be unable to renew their licence next October due to an inability to settle with the Revenue Commissioners and thus obtain a Tax Clearance Certificate (TCC).

The figure represents over 100 County Galway pubs and is the result of what the paper described as “a downward spiral in trade” resulting in an inability to pay taxes or rates.

Other factors for the downturn in business include unemployment and the cost of drink in pubs. Soaring input costs have also been blamed and some publicans in the county have reduced their trade to just one night a week.

And according to senior figures in the trade there, the estimate – derived from the VFI’s Galway PRO Paul O’Grady – “might not be far off the mark”.

While a temporary TCC might give some degree of breathing-space for hard-pressed publicans, it’s unlikely to solve their predicament, according to Paul O’Grady, who’s also an auctioneer in the region.

His assessment of the number of pubs involved in this predicament Galway stems from information gathered from “local members and my own personal knowledge multiplied across the board” he told Drinks Industry Ireland, “as well as from suppliers, who pointed out to me that they’d witnessed turnovers in the pubs here way down with costs way up.

“They also reported that orders were way down for Galway Races week.

“I think that the vital month here will be October, the month after renewal, in order to get the true picture across the country,” he concluded.