For many visitors to Ireland, spending time in a local pub – sampling whatever is on offer, engaging in conversation with local residents, perhaps listening to live musicians – is a memorable experience. As indeed it is, and long has been, for the same local residents. However, in many instances, that experience is no longer available. Figures released last year show that an average 152 pubs have closed annually since 2019 and that the number of such licensed premises has declined by 22.5 per cent since 2005. A survey published in August 2022 showed that counties suffering the highest percentage reduction in the number of pubs since 2005 were Laois (30.6%), Offaly (29.9%), Limerick (29.1%), Roscommon (28.3%) and Cork (28.5%). County Meath suffered the least reduction, with just three pubs closing their doors during this period. But the trend is nationwide, as can be testified by anyone who travels around Ireland; wherever you go, there are shuttered premises falling into dereliction, another aspect of Ireland’s heritage slowly disappearing.
It is easy, too easy, to wax sentimental over the Irish pub and its supposed charms. Certainly some of them are places of great character, well-designed, well-maintained, well-run and a pleasure to visit. A number of them, especially those in the larger cities and towns, are repositories of 19th century craftsmanship, marvels of mahogany, brass and glass. These are the premises that deservedly feature in advertisements and tourist promotions. But there are plenty of other pubs in Ireland devoid of any aesthetic merit, with worn linoleum on the floor, tatty plastic seating and facilities that might most politely be described as grubby. However, whether objects of beauty or not, they all serve the same purpose: providing a venue where people can assemble and enjoy each other’s company. Remove such places, especially in non-urban areas, and you remove the opportunity for those people to meet, thereby increasing the likelihood of isolation. Last June, the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre published a report proposing that Ireland has the highest levels of loneliness in Europe.
Many explanations have been given for the decline in pubs around Ireland, not least the imposition of stricter legislation around driving and alcohol consumption. While the merits of these measures cannot be questioned, they have coincided with a liberalisation of licensing laws, so that it is now possible to buy alcohol in a much greater number of premises (including petrol stations). The onset of Covid-19 and the obligation of residents to remain in their own properties also encouraged greater consumption of alcohol at home rather than in a public setting, and this is thought to have led to a widespread change in drinking habits. Increased operating costs, not least those of lighting and heating, have also made the business increasingly unviable for many pub owners, particularly those outside large centres of population. Running a business of this kind has grown steadily less attractive or feasible. And so the closures are likely to continue and more premises left to fall into ruin. As if Ireland didn’t already have sufficient derelict buildings.
“While the merits of these measures cannot be questioned”
If we are to address the issues of rural isolation, loneliness, depression , all of which have led to so many suicides perhaps the merits of these measures must be questioned .
I would blame the use of the motor vehicle as a contributory factor.
Not to discount what is going on in Ireland, here in England, the loss of the pub is in absolute free fall. Yes, we know all the reasons – and we go there to consume alcohol (a poison!) but I look at it from a different perspective… these boozers were once the haunt of the working man (my father was one of McAlpines Fusileers!) and this history is being lost. Over and above that, this Victorian and Edwardian architectural brio is also erased – never to be seen again.
I agree, some pubs now rely on serving food to survive especially in more rural areas. One thing that is also affecting pubs is that increasingly younger generations do not either drink as much alcohol or are drinking less.
For many people coffee shops in larger towns and cities fulfil the function of a pub as a place to meet. Living in Leicester with have a variation on this, because of the large Hindu and Muslim populations who do not drink, there are a large number of cake shops where you can sit down and consume sweet cakes with tea and coffee. Very popular with woman and unlike coffee shops they stay open until late.
I hope the front of John Delaney’s bar will be saved.
These comments amuse me -particularly the description of the ‘cake shops’. We seem to forget that there was another ubiquitous establishment for socializing, the tea shop, which survived for multiple centuries. They also gave women a chance to be business owners. I just read that coffee has exceeded tea as the hot drink of choice in England, I hope the same isn’t happening in Ireland. When I researched it years ago, the Irish had the highest per capita consumption of tea in the world.
Delaneys of the Slatequarries. Many a good night of chat and music was spent here. Old stock items still hanging from their hooks, all presided over by John Delaney, a proper gentleman and accomplished musician.