Recession? What Recession! Drink sales rise in one place!

Biggins

I post the following just to reassure you that the sales of drink is going up.

HUNDREDS of pubs may have gone bust in the recession but the country's most exclusive watering hole went from strength to strength.

Sales at the secretive Dail bar soared by one-third to over €300,000 at the height of the banking crisis, while at the same time vintners accused the Government of "deliberately destroying the pub industry".
The Herald can reveal that the beer taps in Leinster House were in full flow as thirsty TDs and senators were regularly forced to stay back late to debate crisis legislation.

The public at large got a first look inside the plush bar this week after junior minister Ciaran Cuffe broke "clear rules" and posted a picture on his Twitter page.
The junior minister caused a stir around Leinster House last week when he ignored protocol and gave the general public a first look inside.
The head of the Oireachtas communications department has noted that Mr Cuffe was quickly asked to remove the picture from the internet.
And he has defended the practice of not allowing photography inside the corridors of power.
Oireachtas spokesperson Mark Mulqueen says that Mr Cuffe "inadvertently displayed an image online".
"When this matter was brought to the attention of the minister of State he immediately removed the image."

Despite the fact that the ban on photography is well known in Leinster House, Mr Cuffe said that he was still learning the rules.
Mr Mulqueen explained: "The rules and protocol of Leinster House do not permit the use of any type of camera within the Leinster House complex with the exception of the cameras used for the broadcasting of the proceedings or for official purposes by the Houses of the Oireachtas Service or by special arrangement."
Defending the fact that photography is not allowed inside Leinster House, Mr Mulqueen notes: "You may find that this is standard practice in most parliaments."

That means that Mr Cuffe's picture may be the only view that ordinary voters ever get of the bar, which sells cut-price beer and spirits.
Despite the rock bottom prices, the most recent income and expenditure accounts for the bar show that it enjoyed a healthy gross profit of €183,310. This was up nearly €50,000 on the 2007 figure.
The impressive figures -- obtained under the Freedom of Information Act -- come despite the fact that the Oireachtas bar is one of the cheapest in the city centre.
A pint of Guinness costs just €4, lager is €4.40 and bottled cider is €5. A measure of Jameson's whiskey is €4.40, West Coast Cooler is €4.40 and vodka is a very reasonable €3.80.

The cheap pints are enjoyed by politicians who generally earn in the region of €100,000 a year, as well as visitors on tours of Leinster House.
The bar has yet to file its accounts for 2009, but figures for 2007 and 2008 show that sales rose by over one-third.

Source: http://www.herald.ie/national-news/recession-not-here-as-sales-soar-at-cutprice-bar-for-our-tds-2252594.html

So there you have it. Drink sales are increasing, great news and we are all well served!

galwayrush

Hmm. could a hazard a guess as to who foots the bill?:pac:

JJJJNR

Sounds like they were having a right o'l laugh at us.

Elevator

JJJJNR wrote: »

Sounds like they were having a right o'l laugh at us.

of course the fcuking are, we don't even know the half of their shenanigans

if this was anywhere else they'd be burnt out of their stronghold

Abrasax

The phrase 'Nero fiddled while Rome burned' comes to mind.

Biggins

I find it sad that a building that has had millions upon millions of public money poured into it, that is used often by the public and is on legal public grounds ...cannot be photographed!

Thats just ...odd?

Herb Powell

Biggins wrote: »

I find it sad that a building that has had millions upon millions of public money poured into it, that is used often by the public and is on legal public grounds ...cannot be photographed!

Thats just ...odd?

what? that's the first I've heard of this

Biggins

Herb Powell wrote: »

what? that's the first I've heard of this

Welcome to one of many contradicting laws pertaining to TD's and the Dail versus the public and how they are treated differently outside its building.

bonerm

Phew! I forgot for a second there that I don't drink anymore.

Biggins

bonerm wrote: »

Phew! I forgot for a second there that I don't drink anymore.

What happened? You put down the beer can so you could type? :pac:

biko

Even though they earn 4 times as much as many the TDs still won't pay for subsidised drink.

Just 17 of the 42 TDs or senators with bar debts at the end of 2007 had paid off their tab more than three years later, with the overall drinks debt almost doubling during this period.

In one case, an unnamed public representative now owes €1,378.15, while 19 more have failed to pay off individual 2010 bar tabs ranging between €103 and €569.30 since the start of this year.

http://news.eircom.net/national/17858690/

mikemac

The impressive figures -- obtained under the Freedom of Information Act -- come despite the fact that the Oireachtas bar is one of the cheapest in the city centre.
A pint of Guinness costs just €4, lager is €4.40 and bottled cider is €5. A measure of Jameson's whiskey is €4.40, West Coast Cooler is €4.40 and vodka is a very reasonable €3.80

Those prices are considered cheap?
If a journalist at the Herald is impressed at those prices they haven't visited many towns in Ireland.

And I'm surprised at the prices anyway.
As I understand, the bars that are on Defense Forces bases are dirt cheap as they are exempt from tax, VAT and excise duty.
When I started reading this thread, I figured the Dail prices would be the same.

syklops

Abrasax wrote: »

The phrase 'Nero fiddled drank pints while Rome burned' comes to mind.

Fixed your post.

Biggins

biko wrote: »

Even though they earn 4 times as much as many the TDs still won't pay for subsidised drink.
http://news.eircom.net/national/17858690/

This the same chappie? : http://www.independent.ie/national-news/politician-ordered-to-clear-tab-of-euro1400-at-dail-bar-2174974.html

yoshytoshy

It should be called the watering hole ,not the dail.

WindSock

Any pics of the bar? I am interested to see this 'corridor of power'

Biggins

yoshytoshy wrote: »

It should be called the watering hole ,not the dail.

They should rename it the "Anglo hole" - it just seems to need refilling and there seems to be no end to it - at the tax payers expense! :pac:

...I suppose I shouldn't really laugh at that ....but its either laugh or cry!

yoshytoshy

Biggins wrote: »

They should rename it the "Anglo hole" - it just seems to need refilling and there seems to be no end to it - at the tax payers expense! :pac:

...I suppose I shouldn't really laugh at that ....but its either laugh or cry!

When things are as crazy as they are ,laughing and crying are the same thing.

Biggins

yoshytoshy wrote: »

When things are as crazy as they are, laughing and crying are the same thing.

...Thats my world then.

yoshytoshy

We'll have our day ,drinks are on me then!

ejmaztec

There must be some way of tunnelling into the cellar and piping laxatives to the taps, just to give the bastards the screaming sh1ts that they deserve.

It would be entertaining TV to watch them, one by one, running from their seats in the Daíl to the jacks every 5 minutes.

Sea Sharp

Those pesky TDs.
Whatever will they get up to next.

goose2005

It does make a laughing stock of the Irish. In a proper country, secret, unphotographable rooms are military HQs and secret negotiation rooms - in ireland, it's where our leaders swill cider and slap each other on the back.

ejmaztec

goose2005 wrote: »

It does make a laughing stock of the Irish. In a proper country, secret, unphotographable rooms are military HQs and secret negotiation rooms - in ireland, it's where our leaders swill cider and slap each other on the back.

They should call it the Pintagon.

yoshytoshy

Running the country ? ,ah sure have a pint ,we'll do it tomorrow.

Biggins

ejmaztec wrote: »

They should call it the Pintagon.

Ha-ha VERY good. Classic. :pac:
Post of the day so far for me!

Jesus Wept

Why do they have a bar in there anyhow? What a joke.
Are they on the sauce during the day while the dail is in session?

Overheal

Any other country would use oil trading as an economic indicator; but no, the Irish use drink sales as their guide..

ejmaztec

Overheal wrote: »

Any other country would use oil trading as an economic indicator; but no, the Irish use drink sales as their guide..

...and the price of a Big Mac.

yoshytoshy

I honestly think our government use the bargain section of aldi as the indicator of our recovery.

Jesus Wept

ejmaztec wrote: »

...and the price of a Big Mac.

That's not an Irish thing.