A rebel with a cause
Michael O’Donovan, VFI , President. Picture Conor McCabe Photography.
Michael O’Donovan is the new president of the Vintners Federation of Ireland (VFI). A third-generation publican from Cork, he has extensive experience in the hospitality sector and a deep understanding of the challenges facing publicans across Ireland.
O’Donovan owns The Castle Inn on South Main Street in Cork, a family-run pub that has been in operation for over a century. His long-standing involvement with the VFI includes serving as chair of both the Cork City and Cork County branches, as well as representing Cork on the National Executive Council.
He succeeds John Clendennen from Offaly who prematurely finished his tenure after running for office with Fine Gael and was elected as a TD in his local constituency.
We spoke to Michael as he was driving up the M7 on his way to a meeting in Dublin. Being president of the VFI means that the day job still needs to be maintained so he is lucky that his parents, Dennis and Mary, are in a position to help him out during his time as president.
“I’m a third-generation publican and my parents still live over the bar, which is very lucky for me because they help out when I’m away and I’m on the road a lot at the moment,” he explains. “It’s a busy time but if you grow up working in the hospitality industry, you are used to long hours and putting in the shift, as the man says,” he laughs.
His grandfather’s side of the family was involved in a number of pubs and hotels so the hospitality business is certainly in the blood and when Michael finished school he attended Shannon College of Hotel and Management. “I did my degree in hotel management and at the same time did a Bachelor of Commerce in UCG,” he explains, showing that he has never shied away from hard work.
His father, Dennis was involved locally with the VFI from when it set up in the 1970s but he never went forward for national positions. Michael travelled after college, spending time working in Germany, England and then back to Dublin. In his late 20s, he came back to work in Cork.
He says he “fell into the VFI” after initially just joining the golf society. “I took on a full-time job in the bar,” he explains. “I was a keen golfer at that stage and there was a Vintner’s golf society that I joined and through the golf society, I was asked if I would join the local Cork city committee and here I am 25 years later as national president of the organisation.” His journey to the top job included the position of county chairperson in Cork and acting as spokesperson for the VFI during the Covid years, which he says gave him an appetite to get more involved.
Challenges
Michael has seen many challenges over the years and like most, he says that Covid was the biggest challenge ever to beset the industry but another that stands out in his memory is the introduction of the smoking ban in 2004. “When that [the smoking ban] came along, it was a challenge because people didn’t know what was going to happen but I think that passed after a couple of months as people adapted but in 2020 when the pubs were closed, it was the scariest time for publicans because there were still bills coming in for insurance and broadband and phones. The doors were closed and we were so dependent on the help from the government and then we came out of that crisis and went straight into Russia invading Ukraine where energy prices were inflated overnight so the last five years have been a real challenge. But hopefully we are getting through it as last year we saw the least amount of closures across the country since 2018,” he reveals.
He feels like in terms of the industry, publicans who have weathered the cost of living crisis in the last few years will hopefully continue, whether that’s from a family member taking over or a new entrant.
“My hope would be that the pubs that are there now will be here for future generations, protecting the culture that we have in the pub industry here in Ireland. There are Irish bars throughout the world but the best Irish bars are still here at home so it’s important that we protect them and hold on to them and it’s something that tourists really love about Ireland,” he says.
“We see Irish bars throughout the world but the best Irish bars are still here at home so it’s important that we protect them and hold on to them and it’s something that tourists really love about Ireland, ” says O’Donovan.
Supports
The cost of doing business remains the biggest barrier to trade for publicans. Between wages, energy and materials, publicans are being hit by cost hikes from all sides. The general cost of doing business is on the tip of every publican’s tongue and Michael cites paper products as an example of a cost that is not seen but has to be absorbed. “Paper products have gone through the roof – till roll, hand towels, toilet rolls and these are all costs that the general public don’t see but they all have an impact on the bottom line. When there is a price increase from suppliers, the price of the drink increases but prices of other products are going up all year around and generally a publican’s prices don’t increase to keep pace with them. It’s just a huge cost burden and many publicans are running on a very thin margin at the moment,” he explains.
So how can government offer meaningful support, because the types of grants they have received up until now are being labelled as mere band aids for the problem? “We’ve the second highest excise duty in Europe and that is something the government could look at and they could look at reducing excise on even draught products, not all alcohol products, which would help the publican/hospitality industry here in Ireland,” he suggests. “They could also look at the higher rate of VAT. If that was dropped one percent this year and one percent next year, it would give everyone a little more money in their pocket and would help the economy and help publicans. We pay 23% VAT on all our alcohol. If it went down a percentage that would give us some room to breathe and maybe we could even invest some money back into our businesses which is very hard at the moment with the cost pressures on us.”
He is calling on the government to use surplus budget funds to pay for these changes. “There is a rainy day fund there as Pascal Donoghue likes to call it. Maybe it’s time to use that rainy day fund to help our own economy for the next few years and if the tariffs [from the US] don’t hurt our economy, that money can be replenished again when they run surpluses on the budget again. It might be time to dip into these funds because if they don’t, businesses will simply not survive.
He points to what is happening in France where the government is offering grants to people to open pubs in towns that have lost all their pubs. “We have a great pub culture and we have to protect it because when these pubs are gone we will miss them and we could end up like France having to introduce grants to encourage them back open. We just need a little bit of help to get us over the line to make it sustainable again and make it something people want to do. It’s our heritage and culture that we are synonymous for around the globe. It should be protected,” he stresses.
Food offering is not essential
So many pubs are operating as quasi-restaurants and those doing food, say they wouldn’t survive without it. However, taking on a food offering is no small feat and Michael attests to the fact that many rural pubs would still not do food, including his own pub, that just offers a fine range of crisps, so he feels that although it’s helpful, it’s not a necessity to survival.
“Lots of rural pubs wouldn’t do food and they would be the centre of that community and drink wouldn’t always be the draw either. I was in a pub over Christmas and there was a bingo night on and 50% of the people weren’t drinking but there was a great atmosphere and it was a fundraiser for a local GAA club and everyone in the community was there,” he explains. “It was a fantastic occasion I have to say and that pub doesn’t do food but it’s doing good business. People were having tea and coffee, a mineral and sparkling waters. It was still a good night for the publican and that is replicated a lot over communities in that the pub is not just for drinks. They host card nights, dart nights, pool nights, bingo nights and socials for sports clubs. The pub is the base for a lot of those community events. A lot of these communities have lost their post office and their corner shop so the pub is the last community meeting place they have.”
The future
Michael is married to Clodagh and they have three children, two boys Eoghan (19) and Cian (17) and a 14-year-old girl called Tara. “My two boys work in the bar at the weekend. Tara couldn’t wait to be 14 as she can officially collect glasses and stock shelves now. The novelty will wear off soon enough I’m sure but she wants to be on the payroll!”
He says there have been no discussions with his eldest yet about the future of their pub. “It’s not a conversation we’ve had as he wants to go to college after his Leaving Cert. It’s something that will be there in the background if they want it but like me, my parents didn’t force me into it. They let me go off and do what I wanted to do. The worst thing I could do is force them into it as that would turn them off it so they need to find their own feet.”
Having vowed never to do a 9-5 job, he believes that you have to love the industry to stay in the pub business for the long haul. “In our industry you work 50 weekends of the year so you have to want to do it and love it or you’ll turn off it pretty fast. I have always loved it.” n
