Sean's Bar in Athlone

Local pub criticises proposals for early pub reopenings

A prominent Athlone pub has criticised proposals issued by the Licensed Vintners Association (LVA) and the Vintners Federation of Ireland (VFI) for pubs to be reopened at the same time as restaurants as “irresponsible”.

Sean’s Bar in Athlone is the oldest pub in Ireland and a prominent fixture on the regional and national pub scene.

Over the weekend, both the LVA and VFI which represent publicans in Dublin and throughout the country respectively, published proposals as to how pubs could reopen more quickly than envisaged under the Government’s plans.

The proposals included pubs offering table service only, blocking customer access to the bar counter, introducing a limit on the number of people at tables and customers being seated at all times.

The full statement, posted by Sean’s Bar on its Facebook page, is as follows:

"Sean's Bar would like to distance itself from the statement issued by the Vintners Federation of Ireland (VFI) and the Licensed Vintners Association (LVA) today where they have asked the government to re-open pubs on the same day as restaurants and cafes. We feel that this statement is irresponsible given the health crisis we face today. In this statement the VFI/LVA have said that it is unfair to treat pubs differently to restaurants and cafes and that we shouldn't be creating a two-tier hospitality sector. They have also outlined "radical measures" to help with social distancing.

"The truth of the matter is there is nothing fair about Covid 19. Restaurants are different to pubs. We would like to know what medical advise the VFI/LVA received? Did they seek advice from expert virologists such as Luke O'Neil? Have they received reports and if so can they be published? Who came up with these guidelines? What recommendations have they received from their paying members?

"We believe as publicans we have to be responsible and lead by example. We have to consider the wellbeing of the general public, our staff, their families and of course the future of our industry. As such we should be following the advice of NPHET and doing our best for the wider community. The Public Health Experts will rightly decide what industries open first. We should only open once the medical experts say it is ok to do so and then we need to make sure we have the necessary procedures in place that will give the general public confidence in us. As things stand It is very clear that many people are nervous about the thought of re-entering a pub again. We have only one opportunity to get this right. 

"We would love to open Sean's Bar as soon as possible. We are desperate to get back to work like most businesses. Unfortunately our sector has to be patient. We cannot rush into re-opening just because we think it’s unfair. What would be more unfair would be forcing a publican to re-open while it’s not safe to do so. Let’s say the average rural pub has 100 square meters of space leaving out the bar and on these guidelines you'll be allowed to have 40 people on your premises. Has this been costed with having to have extra staff, security, etc? How is this viable or even workable?

"We do believe that Gastro pubs should be allowed re-open as restaurants once they follow the guidelines.

"We need the VFI/LVA to fight on our behalf on a number of issues, for example, reduction in VAT, commercial rates, wage subsidy schemes. The industry will need grants (not loans) to re-open. We need the insurance companies to honour their policies. This pandemic will change the pub industry forever. We need a strong voice to act on all these measures to ensure as many pubs as possible survive. The measures announced by the government last week are simply not good enough. It is our opinion that the VFI/LVA will become irrelevant very quickly perhaps leaving a vacuum for other like-minded publicans to act in the best interests of the industry.. not just the chosen few!"