One in four pubs have closed since 2005
Michael Bolton
A quarter of pubs in Ireland have closed in the last 20 years, with a report showing that 2,205 premises have closed since 2005.
The report, compiled by Economist and Associate Professor Emeritus at DCU, Anthony Foley, shows that an average of 110 pubs stopped trading every year over the last two decades.
Every county in the country has seen the number of pubs decrease, with the biggest drop seen in Limerick, with 37.2 per cent og pubs closing since 2005.
Over a third of pubs in Offaly have closed since 2005, at 34.1 per cent, while 32.7 per cent of pubs have closed in the last 20 years in Cork.
Roscommon has seen a drop of 32.3 per cent, while 32 per cent of pubs closed in Tipperary.
The county with the fewest amount of pubs closed is Dublin, with a drop of 1.1 per cent, followed by Wicklow with 9.5 per cent of pubs closing.
The number of pubs that closed their doors last year was 86, up from 65 in 2024 but down from 117 in 2023.
Commenting on the report, author Professor Tony Foley said:“Over the past 20 years the Irish economy has grown substantially, including large employment, consumption and adult population increases, despite multiple economic shocks and geopolitical disruption.
“This growth should have supported the alcohol and public house sectors. However, both alcohol consumption and pub sales volumes declined substantially.
"The level of alcohol taxation is very high in Ireland, which alongside rising costs and changing consumer trends, reduces the commercial viability of public houses.
“It is likely that pub closures will continue in the absence of any change in Government policy. Even in the absence of additional significant economic shocks, an optimistic scenario would expect about 600 additional closures in the next decade from 2024. More pessimistic expectations would increase the closure level to 1,000.”
DIGI secretary, Donall O’Keeffe said:“Over the past 20 years we have seen a decimation in the number of pubs operating across Ireland. This has been particularly damaging to the social, economic and cultural life of rural Ireland. They are also a huge loss to our tourism offer. Without government intervention, this trend will continue and potentially accelerate.
“We are calling for a 10% immediate cut in excise duty to give the remaining small, family-owned pubs a better chance of remaining viable.
"Current excise rates are simply unjust given Ireland’s continually falling rates of alcohol consumption, which ranks us among the EU average for levels of alcohol consumption.
“Our extremely high level of alcohol taxation in comparison to the rest of Europe is actively harming our sector and our customers who rely upon the public house as a hub of human connection.
"This is particularly true in rural settings where there is a greater risk of social isolation.”