On-trade

Commitment given that all Dublin pubs would reopen together claims LVA

In pursuit of its aim of having pubs open in December the Licensed Vintners Association has pointed out that the Acting Chief Medical Officer Dr Ronan Glynn had made a commitment that the distinction between food and wet pubs would not apply when the current lockdown of the hospitality sector ends.

 

The LVA has highlighted the ACMO’s commitment after media reports suggested that the Government is considering measures that would see food pubs reopen in December while non-food pubs remain closed. 

The LVA has highlighted the ACMO’s commitment after media reports suggested that the Government is considering measures that would see food pubs reopen in December while non-food pubs remain closed.

The ACMO’s commitment was given during a conference call with a range of stakeholders on the 18th of September when the lockdown of the hospitality sector in Dublin was announced when he stated that pubs that serve food and non-food pubs would reopen together when restrictions for pubs were lifted.

This followed questioning from the LVA on the matter. The Department of the Taoiseach was also represented on that call, stated the LVA.

The Association is highlighting this commitment in light of media reports suggesting that the Government is considering measures that would see pubs that serve food reopen in December while non-food pubs remain closed.

Come the 1st of December Dublin pubs that don’t serve food will have been closed for 260 consecutive days or 71% of the year. These account for one-third of the capital’s pubs and non-food pubs throughout the rest of the country, which represent approximately half the country’s pubs, will have been open for just over two weeks during that whole period.

“The Government must stand by the commitment made by the Acting CMO to allow pubs that serve food and those that don’t to reopen together,” said LVA Chief Executive Donall O’Keeffe, “During the call that took place on the 18th of September I specifically asked Dr Glynn about this issue and he made a firm commitment that pubs that serve food and those that don’t would both be able to reopen together when reopening is permitted.

“If NPHET and the Government expect the continued buy-in of the sector then they have to live up to such commitments.

“Pubs have taken a disproportionate hit during this crisis, with the non-food pubs in Dublin being hit brutally hard,” he continued, “By the start of December they’ll have been kept shut for 260 consecutive days. They can’t be expected to take any more.

“If the Government and NPHET are to proceed with a strategy that provides nothing to work towards, then the continued acceptance of the lockdown can’t be guaranteed. Hope has to form part of the strategy. So far, hope for the hospitality sector in general and pubs in particular has been notably absent from the Government’s plans for December and beyond. That needs to be urgently addressed,” he concluded.

 


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