Price of a pint in Cork City.

farmerjj wrote: »

Already its only open.:eek:

Apologies Mulligans is it ? on Parnell Place - my mistake.

Clancys still closed as of a few weeks back.

I was in Reardans (yeah, i know ) a few weeks ago midweek and they had a second bar set up just inside the door where all drinks are €2.80. Its not a full bar but they had some on tap and bottles too. I **think** the signs said it was from 5pm-10pm.

I don't think it has been mentioned already on thread. But it was nice to hand over a tenner for two pints and get nearly a fiver back.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/changing-pub-scene-goes-down-well-in-cork-city-267588.html

Changing pub scene goes down well in Cork city


By Conall Ó Fátharta
Irish Examiner Reporter
Conall Ó Fátharta finds publicans in Cork are very upbeat about the trade’s future.
A look at any headlines regarding the pub sector over the past few years has generally made for depressing reading.

Before the last budget, the Vintners’ Federation of Ireland claimed that, in the last five years, over 6,000 jobs had been lost in the industry, with an estimated 2,000 in jeopardy this year.

With both the economy and consumer confidence on the floor, the view was that people had turned away from the pub. It was too expensive for a relatively poor offering in return.

Increasingly, people socialised with friends at home with cheap supermarket alcohol, rather than spending any disposable income in pubs they felt took advantage of the boom years by overcharging to the hilt. As a result, the trade has taken a hammering.

However, in Cork, a number of publicans seem to be bucking the trend. Far from being gloomy about the industry, they are striving to offer people something different.

One of Cork’s best known publicans, Benny McCabe, said the reality was that the boom years made it too difficult for people to do business or to offer a product to discerning pub goers.

As owner of hugely popular and widely diverse Cork venues like the Bodega, Sin É, The Oval, Crane Lane, The Mutton Lane and Arthur Maynes, Mr McCabe said the last couple of years has allowed people to enter the industry even if the cost of doing business is still high.

“Effectively we were locked out of the game during the mad years. It wouldn’t stack as prices were too high. Over the last couple of years as the dust has settled, the actual threshold of entry into business — the gate keeper price — has returned to an acceptable level, so you get to open the door but the actual cost of doing business and ridiculous amounts of sometimes illogical and indeed often contradictory compliance are actually sniffing out entrepreneurial spirit,” he said.

However, he said from “a design to opening” point of view, it has become a far less risky business to enter. As a result, he plans to open five new outlets in the next year, three of which are in buildings that were previously not pubs, a prospect “unthinkable during the boom”.
Mr McCabe states that while the boom years brought unimaginable wealth to Ireland, it did not transfer to pubs and restaurants. As a result, the downturn has allowed entrepreneurs to refocus and offer something a little different than just a pint on a Friday night.

“The result is that we are at 2006 levels of turnover. Cork is about to become a serious player as a city break destination. There will be a requirement for more accommodation. In effect the downturn has allowed the city to reset, retrain and refocus. There are many talented young people in Cork striving for this in music, food, the arts and film. Listen to them. Silk purses out of a sow’s ear might just be the result of the last horrendous five years,” he said.

Ernest Cantillon, who operates Electric on South Mall, the nearby SugarCube café, the VooDoo Lounge nightclub and The Bróg on St Oliver Plunkett St said people want more from a pub they choose to spend money in on a Friday or Saturday night.

As one of the city’s newest entrepreneurs in the sector, he cited Benny McCabe as an example of someone who attempted to try bringing something different to the city’s pub experience.

“The pub trade now is not just about where people meet for drinks. We all sell the same drinks. I think Benny McCabe was probably the first to do it in Cork in terms of serving different craft beers, candles on tables and generating something different in terms of atmosphere. Not just handing out a pint of Heineken and asking you for €5.”

Mr Cantillon said the recent revamp of The Bróg was an example of the confidence brewing in Cork’s pub and nightclub sector.

“The Bróg was a tough one as it wasn’t failing. It was still very popular but it had become a bit stale. It’s actually much easier to start afresh than to change people’s perception of a place.

“I’m one of the people who remembers seeing the Frank and Walters there for the first time in 1996, it has that type of place in people’s memories.
“With Voodoo, we hit the ground running and it’s been a big success. It gave us the endorsement to do something with The Bróg and it’s been a success.”

That success has led Mr Cantillon and his business partner Niall Kearney to buy the old Redz nightclub — something he couldn’t have envisaged during the boom years.

“We have no idea what we are going to do with it yet. That was on the market at one stage for €4.3m. We got it for €700,000. The reality is that not a lot of people were that interested. With prices back to a more realistic place, you can put more money into giving people a better experience.

“We can put the guts of a million into the place. Ultimately, you have to answer to a bank account at some stage but if it’s at the top of your list, like it had to be during the boom years, then you are just providing a drink factory nothing more.”

It’s clear the recipe of offering pub goers something a little fresher and a little more unique is paying off.

The Sextant on Albert Quay is a prime example and one Mr Cantillon points to when highlighting what the newer Cork pub has to offer.
“For example, when I think of The Sextant, I think of the atmosphere — the Fishy Fridays and the Pig on a Spit. It’s not just a pub where you get your pint of Heineken. You get more than that. You get an experience,” he said.

Along with its famous Friday night free food offerings, The Sextant now even offers harbour cruises for a two-hour trip around the harbour complete with booze, a DJ and pizza.

Even smaller, family-owned pubs are trying something different. For example, the Cotton Ball on the northside of Cork City has built a micro-brewery in the basement and launched a range of craft beers and stouts.
Owned by the Lynch family since 1874, the pub is offering its own creations Lynch’s Pure Cork Stout, Mayfield Golden Lager and Kerry Lane Pale Ale.

And former county chairman of the Vintners Federation of Ireland, Con Dennehy has just bought The Venue Bar in the south city suburb of Ballintemple.

The premises had been unoccupied in recent months but Dennehy aims to have the pub refurbished and reopened in the coming weeks in time for the Live at the Marquee concerts at the Ballintemple/Marina Showgrounds.
Whether it’s large-scale operations like those run by Benny McCabe or Ernest Cantillon or the traditional family-run local pub like The Cotton Ball, Cork City is offering people a different way of experiencing the traditional Irish pub experience.

It’s going down well.

Cape Clear wrote: »

Not sure if it's is a good thing having so many of the city centre bars owned by a few people.

Maybe - but nothing ( apart from a bank manager/money --- lets face it some people did make a serious killing on the tiger ) stopping new entrants from taking up these opportunites, sure yerman Cantillon is only a new kid on the block himself in terms of these deals.

It's good for the City for these empty premises up to be done up, badly needed, Patrick Street has way too many empty units. It doesn't project a good image of the City, those empty units in such high profile places.

gobnaitolunacy wrote: »

Do they do the shnakey price hike as the night wears on?

Isn't that illegal to have a price hike throughout the day? As far as I know, the price they set at midnight is meant to be the price for the next 24 hours, then they can change it again from midnight after that.

Obviously no one is enforcing this.

For what it is worth, the average price for a drink where I live in Galway is €4, even last night I had a Guinness, the wife had Vodka & 7UP and it cost €8.

I was in a bar in Cork city centre over the weekend at 3 in the afternoon. I ordered a 330 Ml bottle of beer and a glass of red wine for the current wife, barman asked for €14. joke is on them though barman gave me the change of €50, I had only given him a €20

Before the high horse brigade jumps on me, I've worked in bars, if you don't know the difference between blue and brown, get another job. Maybe don't be an electrician though

Maybe but I tend to go to bars to relax, not interested in statsi style search policies.
Safe to say I won't ever be returning.

horgan_p wrote: »

I'd like to see that challenged. I'd think the worst that can happen is

A: "can we search you ?"
B: "I think not my good man"
A: "Grand job , right of admission revoked so"

I think the "random" searches would only be on people they'd be sure are carrying.However putting up a sign is purely inflammatory.

This was always the case. People can only voluntarily consent to a search; doorstaff don't have any right to demand to search your person. However someone refusing to comply with a request can have their admission revoked.

After charging you €6.20 for your pint I don't the glove approach would be necessary