Is the Irish pub in trouble?

B.A._Baracus · 09-04-2018 05:10PM

2ndcoming wrote: »

Haven't been ar5ed with that since pre-drinking as a younger man.

Home drinking means a) no creamy pints, b) no chance of bumping into anyone, c) having to clean up after yourself, d) did I mention no creamy pints?

€4.40 in my local, or about a €2 premium on a can. Well worth it.

Home is your refuge from the world in my book, it's not for sharing. Except with your loved ones obvs, and if they're pi55ing you off thankfully there's a place you can go.

To be honest I'm at that age where I would just rather get an 8 pack and watch a movie or TV at home than go to a pub.

Did the going out to a pub week in week out when I was in my early 20s. My friends and I at the time would always go to the same pub too. Got bored with going out.

Age I guess.

El Weirdo · 09-04-2018 05:13PM

facehugger99 wrote: »

I was shocked at how much my local charged me for a G&T recently. Apparently if they serve it to you in a fishbowl and stick a few slices of cucumber in it they are perfectly entitled to give your wallet a right doing over.

It's madness.

How much? Any particular gin?

gmisk · 09-04-2018 05:14PM

I think there will always be a place for a Pub, but I think especially in citys they need to stand out.
People are more demanding in general now when it comes to the options of alcohol on offer, food etc.
I have to say as I get older (36 now) I visit a pub a lot less, maybe once every couple of weeks, I much prefer to have a drink on Friday/Saturday at home (I have a well stocked booze chest) rather than deal with the pumping music and crowds of most pubs in town.

buried · 09-04-2018 06:38PM

The pubs are finished out the country for sure, maybe one or two in a large enough town can survive a small bit with a decent enough landlord that wants to provide a decent service. Young people still want to go out the weekends, don't they?? Was in my local last Friday night and it was GRIM As Fahhck. Made a drunken rant about how pubs should provide some actual decent music and stick some projection of visuals up a wall to create a bit of atmosphere of a weekend night. Surely there is some way pubs can get their hands on some sort of spotify like jukebox or something where the customers can stick on their own playlists from their phones or something, have their tunes played over the pubs sound systym, doesn't have to be loud, I have no idea if such a thing exists or not but I think it would be a good idea, surely worth a try.
The "nightclubs" out the country are finished for sure. My local place literally looks like this every weekend night

Franz Von Peppercorn · 09-04-2018 06:43PM

VinLieger wrote: »

Look at minimum unit pricing and the zero facts or scientific evidence to back it up as an example of how powerful the vintners lobbying is. They saw the off trade doing well but didn't want to innovate or try to actually win customers back from it so they went their old standard of get the government make them come back to us.

Not doubting the power of the vintners but they weren’t the main force behind good Friday. In fact many stayed shut.

Cienciano · 10-04-2018 12:22PM

buried wrote: »

The pubs are finished out the country for sure, maybe one or two in a large enough town can survive a small bit with a decent enough landlord that wants to provide a decent service. Young people still want to go out the weekends, don't they?? Was in my local last Friday night and it was GRIM As Fahhck. Made a drunken rant about how pubs should provide some actual decent music and stick some projection of visuals up a wall to create a bit of atmosphere of a weekend night. Surely there is some way pubs can get their hands on some sort of spotify like jukebox or something where the customers can stick on their own playlists from their phones or something, have their tunes played over the pubs sound systym, doesn't have to be loud, I have no idea if such a thing exists or not but I think it would be a good idea, surely worth a try.
The "nightclubs" out the country are finished for sure. My local place literally looks like this every weekend night

The problem is, half the people want music, half don't. I was in a pub on Saturday night and live music came in to set up, we all left and went down the road. Same with TV, some people want it, some don't. Unless a pub is big enough to have 2 different sections you'll never have people happy.

draiochtanois · 10-04-2018 12:26PM

This post has been deleted.

Sofiztikated · 10-04-2018 12:32PM

buried wrote: »

The pubs are finished out the country for sure, maybe one or two in a large enough town can survive a small bit with a decent enough landlord that wants to provide a decent service. Young people still want to go out the weekends, don't they?? Was in my local last Friday night and it was GRIM As Fahhck. Made a drunken rant about how pubs should provide some actual decent music and stick some projection of visuals up a wall to create a bit of atmosphere of a weekend night. Surely there is some way pubs can get their hands on some sort of spotify like jukebox or something where the customers can stick on their own playlists from their phones or something, have their tunes played over the pubs sound systym, doesn't have to be loud, I have no idea if such a thing exists or not but I think it would be a good idea, surely worth a try.
The "nightclubs" out the country are finished for sure. My local place literally looks like this every weekend night

Its bad enough people ****ing about and fighting over playlists at afters, never mind in the pubs.

whisky_galore · 10-04-2018 12:36PM

draiochtanois wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

Noticed the radiators at boiling point on a mild night in one city pub.

Re loud music, I find if the bar staff are wearing ear plugs it's time to change venue.

Most Irish clubs esp the rural ones are bargain basement kips, magnets for trouble, they rarely look nice....black painted walls and sh*t decor and horrendously expensive drink.

Doltanian · 10-04-2018 12:48PM

I went on a date out with a woman in Dublin recently €5.50 for a bottle of Heineken and €3.00 for a can of Diet Coke. The food I forget although it was cheaper than Killarney prices but the steak was like old rubber boots. I’m a non drinker so normally despise pubs and the environment was loud, boisterous with Man U v City however the date went well but I’ll definitely not be taking her back to that same place again.

CrankyHaus · 10-04-2018 01:10PM

I quite like the Irish Pub. I dropped into one in Tuam a few years ago for a sandwich at lunchtime and had a nice random chat about different great singers and what defined them with one of the aul lads propping up the bar. You don’t get that everywhere.

I’ve noticed that many rural villages and small towns are bursting at the seams with cheap takeaway joints while their pubs are closed. It’s a sad kind of progress.

Where I live the pubs are still doing great business, although they’re busier serving food (and drinks) during the day than they are most nights. I think most pubs can survive if they focus on food and a daytime crowd and stop expecting to make a shedload of money doing exactly the same thing they did in 1998.

seachto7 · 10-04-2018 01:28PM

Palm oil everywhere!

Specialun · 10-04-2018 01:35PM

Pubs have not changed with the times and are too expensive

Down in Cork a Pt Bottle is 6 Quid and if the Missus is drinking Morgans + Coke its another 7 Quid ish. Why the fcuk would I pay 13 ish quid a round when I can get a wagon load of it and drink it in a comfy chair with less khunts around me. About 11ish we can head to the nightclub if she wants to throw shapes.

If I want a cockail is 11 or 12 quid. Fcuk me I would want to have a premier league players salary is myself and my mates want yagabomb session.

It's gone beyond a Joke.

Pubs cant do promo's to make themselves different to the competition and most dont even know how to differentiate themselves. In Cork if you look at the likes of Sober lane who do toss a coin on a sunday or a funny quiz or game board night you cant even get in the door it's so busy. Why? Because theyre different

Muahahaha · 10-04-2018 02:13PM

kunst nugget wrote: »

In all my years of drinking, no matter how scuttered and messy I've been, I've never had a barman tell me I've had enough.

The idea propagated by the publicans that a pub is a *safe environment* to drink in compared to the home is just a complete red herring. Irish publicans will serve you until you can barely stand up.

I remember living in Australia and they had a court case whereby a man was served massive amount of spirits and then got in his car, crashed and ended up with an amputated leg. He sued successfully as the judge ruled anyone as pissed as he was no longer had the mental capability to make sensible decisions. The judge found the publican to be partly culpable for serving the man into that state while knowing he would drive afterwards.

Then around 1999 there was an almost identical court case in Cork. A regular drinking in the pub had his car keys on the bar the whole time and the publican knew well he drove home pissed on a frequent basis. But this one day his drinking was off the scale- the court case revealed that he had been served 14 pints followed by 1.2 bottles of vodka, measure by measure. Like the guy in Australia he also crashed and he had to have his arm amputated. He also sued but lost with the judge ruling the publican cant of had any blame for serving someone that amount of alcohol.

It was a real eye opener for me seeing those virtually identical cases with two entirely different outcomes. In Ireland a publican can serve you into oblivion where you dont even have the ability to cross the road whereas in Australia doing the same thing will end up with the publican facing fines in the range of $100,000 and the threat of losing your license.

LuckyLloyd · 10-04-2018 03:04PM

This is a mad thread to me as someone living in Dublin City Centre. Pubs are packed, more diverse than ever and the craic is as good as its ever been*. The choice as a customer is extraordinary, and within that there are plenty of places holding firm to their core offering - though they'll carry an IPA on tap. It's great or that's how it seems to me anyway.

Rural pubs are another story, but that's not a recent thing. The watershed there was aggressive cracking down on drink driving and the recession would have finished off places that were hanging on by a thread. I'm okay with that though. If we have decided as a society that drink / driving is out then one of the inevitable consequences of same is the death of the small pub accessible to most of its catchment area by car only. Hopefully cafes / community centres will become a new embedded feature of rural Ireland offering some place for people to come in for a chat, a read of the paper, etc even if drink isn't the driving force. We'll be a while away from that, but where there is money to be made it will happen in time.

*Those focussing on price miss the point as far as I'm concerned. The pub was always a more expensive option than sitting at home. That again is nothing new. You're paying a premium for a service, for use of a venue, and for the chance to meet people you wouldn't otherwise sitting on your couch. The price of each individual pint oscillating half a euro over the years really shouldn't factor much in how one values all of that imo. Or, at least, for those put off the price they're never going to be reduced ultimately so I guess we won't be seeing ye out and about at the weekend.

Stovepipe · 10-04-2018 05:02PM

some pubs are their own worst enemy; filthy toilets,tolerating smoking and scumbags are three of the things that make my two locals essentially unusable. Pub owners in both cases couldn't care less and the local Garda won't do anything. I'll keep my beer money for home until they improve, which I doubt will ever happen.

El Weirdo · 10-04-2018 05:03PM

Stovepipe wrote: »

some pubs are their own worst enemy; filthy toilets,tolerating smoking and scumbags are three of the things that make my two locals essentially unusable. Pub owners in both cases couldn't care less and the local Garda won't do anything. I'll keep my beer money for home until they improve, which I doubt will ever happen.

Do you expect the Gardai to clean the jacks?

Stovepipe · 10-04-2018 05:08PM

No, of course not. I expect the pub owner to keep it fit for use......tolerating smoking is not acceptable and I've stopped going to the pubs when I expect smoking, which is usually when there's a big match on and myself and a few mates would like to watch it and have a bit of craic without coming home stinking of smoke.

El Weirdo · 10-04-2018 05:14PM

Stovepipe wrote: »

No, of course not. I expect the pub owner to keep it fit for use......tolerating smoking is not acceptable and I've stopped going to the pubs when I expect smoking, which is usually when there's a big match on and myself and a few mates would like to watch it and have a bit of craic without coming home stinking of smoke.

The Guards probably won't do anything about that, either.

Zebra3 · 10-04-2018 05:41PM

The idea that publicans give a damn about their staff or customers is ridiculous considering how bitterly opposed to the smoking ban they were.

Only thing they are for, is anything that’ll generate profits for them.

JohnnyFlash · 10-04-2018 08:22PM

Zebra3 wrote: »

The idea that publicans give a damn about their staff or customers is ridiculous considering how bitterly opposed to the smoking ban they were.

Only thing they are for, is anything that’ll generate profits for them.

Almost like they ran a business or something....

odyssey06 · 10-04-2018 08:50PM

JohnnyFlash wrote: »

Almost like they ran a business or something....

Unfortunately too many pub owners fail to understand essential business concepts like price elasticity of demand... solution to everything: raise prices.

Stovepipe · 10-04-2018 10:17PM

JohnnyFlash wrote: »

Almost like they ran a business or something....

Nothing wrong with running a good business, but when the toilets are foul and the air stinking, then the basics are not being covered.

Zebra3 · 10-04-2018 10:20PM

JohnnyFlash wrote: »

Almost like they ran a business or something....

Most publicans haven’t a clue how to run a business. The model for years was to just keep raising prices, and gouging punters.

Delighted to see so many places failing.

cryptocurrency · 10-04-2018 10:23PM

From what I seen tonight I will celebrate some pubs demise. They deserve it.

Doltanian · 10-04-2018 10:48PM

cryptocurrency wrote: »

From what I seen tonight I will celebrate some pubs demise. They deserve it.

Scum soccer fans?

cryptocurrency · 10-04-2018 10:51PM

Doltanian wrote: »

Scum soccer fans?

Would t go that far but I would say they were lower brow then I’d normally be in the vicinity of.

Doltanian · 10-04-2018 11:00PM

cryptocurrency wrote: »

Would t go that far but I would say they were lower brow then I’d normally be in the vicinity of.

Encountered several of them myself on Saturday during the Man U v Man City game. A real mood killer

Ash.J.Williams · 10-04-2018 11:00PM

The internet and new forms of home entertainment is definitely a factor. Along with the budget airline thing catching on. Its also costly to run a quiet traditional pub that relies solely on selling pints and peanuts. Also, weed.

Mister Vain · 10-04-2018 11:01PM

Richard Hillman wrote: »

Things like Netflix and Video on Demand are also a big player in the death of the local pub.

The fact that so many people are now into health and fitness has something to do with it too I reckon. Young lads nowadays are more interested in drinking protein shakes than pints of larger. I remember when I was in my late teens and early 20's, people consumed a colossal amount of alcohol. The attendance in work was dreadful as a lot of staff didn't show up on Monday because they were too hungover. That's not the case now.

Is the Irish pub in trouble?

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