The loss of 120 of pubs in Galway since 2005, including 20 closures last year, is just the beginning warns Chair of County Galway Vintners, Cllr Joe Sheridan, as rising taxation and lack of support from the State has endangered a cornerstone of Ireland - the rural pub.
Irish pubs are declining at an accelerated rate according to statistics released yesterday (Wednesday ) by Drinks Industry Group of Ireland (DIGI ), with a disproportionate number of closures happening in rural areas. With almost 2,000 closures nationally, and the annual figure of pubs closing for good continuing to rise, publicans across Galway are struggling with hefty excise duty, rising costs from suppliers, and the State 'turning a blind eye' to the situation.
"The pinnacle of the issue is that we are losing family run pubs in isolated rural areas, where there are few facilities as it is. In these settlements, the closure of the pub is the closure of a community. Once the lights are off in the pub, what is left?," said Sheridan, who is himself seventh generation publican and owner of Walsh's Pub in Dunmore, Co Galway.
"The Government has turned a blind eye to those settlements, the local shop has already fallen by the wayside and the pubs are next. I feel like the State has lost its way and turned its back on rural Ireland."
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According to an economic and social analysis of the numbers found in the DIGI report, economist Anthony Foley notes that while public houses play a particularly important role in contributing to the communities in Ireland’s towns, villages and rural areas, smaller local markets and populations mean many pubs in regional counties operate on tight margins marking them more at risk of closure.
“There are many reasons for the decline in the number of public houses in Ireland, economic and social. The cause and impact of these closures requires full consideration given the knock-on impact it has on the fabric of local communities as social outlets. The loss of hundreds of these local businesses, employers, purchasers and community hubs has repercussions, particularly in more rural communities across the country," said Foley.
"In rural areas, the pub is a community hub. It is where the community celebrates the achievements of the local girls team, where older people come in to socialise and play cards, where the local gun club comes to warm up after a long day outside - and the Government is knowingly destroying that community hub," said Cllr Sheridan, adding, "I have been watching this unfold for the last 15 years and have been saying for years that eventually rural pubs will have no choice but to close, and when that happens it cannot be reversed."
Keeping the lights on
Even beyond the social and cultural function that local pubs serve, the quintessential Irish pub experience has been a major player in Ireland's tourism campaigns for decades, but according to Cllr Sheridan, there is only a finite future for these quintessential pubs being used to draw tourists to the country.
"It seems nonsensical for a country that spends millions on advertising each year and working hard to get people to visit Ireland, only to ignore the struggles of a core element of what is being advertised."
A large part of the struggles faced by local pubs comes down to what Foley describes as an "excessively high excise duty" on alcoholic products, with Ireland having the second highest excise duty in Europe. For publicans like Cllr Sheridan, this steep taxation is nonsensical when Ireland gains more from the existence of pubs than it loses.
"In my own pub, for example, a pint is €5 and automatically 33 per cent of that goes to excise duty straight away, that goes up to 66 per cent when you add indirect taxation. You can only flog a donkey for so much before you kill him.
"Take other jurisdictions and countries famous for alcohol for example, in Munich the famous home of the weiss beer the excise duty is one tenth of ours, and the only reason they have it at all is to cover administrative fees. If you were in the famous area of Chianti in Italy, known for its wine, you would pay no excise duty. If you were in the Rioja region of Spain enjoying a glass, you pay no excise duty, same in Bordeaux, but if I were to go and ask people getting off a plane now in Terminal 1 in Dublin Airport what do they want to experience in their time here, they would undoubtedly say they want to see an Irish pub.
Solutions to prevent further closures
Both Sheridan and Foley agree that a reduction of excise duty is necessary to counteract an already concerning trend when it comes to pubs in Ireland. The County Galway Vintners (VFI ) group are calling for a 15 percent reduction in excise duty for the next two years to allow publicans and the hospitality industry time to heal.
"There is no international obligation to keep the excise duty at its current level, the State could drop it tomorrow. The current situation is the result of decades and decades of overtaxing, and now we are seeing decades of abuse of the industry.
"The State needs to give a little so it can get a lot back. If the State does not do this we are going to lose far more pubs than we have lost up to this point, this is a crescendo, something needs to happen and it needs to happen now."
