Pent-up frustration from hospitality sector palpable

At last, summer feels like it is finally here with a few glorious days of sunshine this week. But as is often the case with summer in Ireland, blink and you might miss it. It seems as if the tourist season is getting ever shorter and the secondary schools going back in mid-August doesn’t help this plight. According to Ray Madden from O’Carroll’s Cove Restaurant and Bar in Co Kerry, whom we spoke to for our pub profile this month, business was still very quiet in late June and he explained that the only guaranteed busy weeks are limited to the last two weeks of July and the first two of August. Four weeks of good trade in the summer cannot sustain these rural communities through long, harsh winters.
The feeling I’m getting from across the trade this month is that there is a lot of pent-up frustration around. Firstly frustration at the weather which is futile, but mainly it’s a frustration with the government for a continued lack of focus on small business. Garda resources seem to be scarce and this results in anti-social behaviour, that has culminated in a real sense of anger simmering below the surface from business people. An LVA survey showed that 96% of Dublin publicans are concerned about the current level of policing in the capital. During the last 12 months one is eight publicans have had to call on the Gardaí 10 times or more.
The LVA believes that it is vital the Government’s Taskforce for Dublin City Centre press for the provision of additional policing resources on the city’s streets in its upcoming budget recommendations because if people are not feeling safe, they simply will not venture into the towns and cities at night anymore. And in our interview with Sian Brennan from CGA,  we learned that people are already stating a preference for socialising earlier in the day which in turn puts a big focus on food. And with this comes the next point of frustration.
Currently, food accounts for 35% of the turnover of pubs across Dublin alone, a figure that reaches as high as 50% in many pubs, also according to the LVA survey. The reinstated VAT rate on food of 23% is a real bone of contention and has put additional pressure on businesses that were already struggling due to rising costs and wage rates.
The hospitality sector is practically begging for the 9% VAT on food to be reinstated yet small businesses feel like their woes are falling on deaf ears. Some real and meaningful changes need to come from the government soon because hospitality is becoming a very tough sector to make a decent living from.