Irish pubs closing Down

When you say house parties are you imagining the American style frat house party with kegs, red plastic cups and tonnes of shots? These don't really happen here. Even when I was in college a house party was mainly people drinking cans, playing PlayStation, listening to music and chatting etc, not all night raves.

A lot around my age (early 30's) still enjoy a few pints in the pub, but a lot don't as well, doesn't mean they're all coke heads, they just don't like the pub environment.

My group of mates rarely meet up in the pub anymore, most of the time it's at someone's house, byob, have a catch up with some drinks and music, nothing like a mad rave with coke.

That's a fair point but it could be said also that it reinforces the stereotype that everything in Ireland revolves around booze. We could just as easily boost our tourism by staging a photo op of the President walking or cycling along one of the many excellent greenways which we've been investing literally billions in over recent years.

My first reaction when teenagers tell me they don't go to nightclubs is that they're missing out on a vital formative life experience

I often wondered when all these vital formative life experiences were going to happen as I stood on the sticky carpet of my local dishco while having my ear drums destroyed.

What's "Irish" about it? unless there's a second pub in the series.

The Farmer's Dog bar is as English as you can get. ALL items are made in Britain. They don't even have Guinness.

Great concept and would love to see an Irish version

The club scene has been dying for decades …..even 25-30 years ago the club scene was showing signs of cracking …… many began to tire of the clubs with the massive crowds, often full to capacity and one could not even get in …… not to mention the ear-piercing loud techno and rave ….. they instead met in houses and had their own thing going incl karaoke machines ……

Where have you been, yes alot of night clubs have closed in the last decade and covid was the death knell for many,being forced to close for 2 years. However 25 years ago they were thriving, do you not remember the 90s probably the peak of the clubbing scene especially in dublin?

I think your observations are personal given that you never liked night clubs, fair enough.

The closing of lots of clubs over last decade is more an Irish phenomenon, got to do with antiquated licensing laws whereby there are no proper night club licenses and they have to apply for a bar extension every week which costs 400 euros I believe and that still doesn't allow them to stay open much later than pubs anyway. So they get it difficult to attract punters when the charges for drink are higher given the higher costs. On top of that the raging property market and government money for asylum centres has made many close down and sell . But goto the continent and you will see plenty of young people packing out clubs into the small wee hours of the morning and what's more plenty of young people travel to UK and continent to enjoy a night out like they used to do here in the go go years of 90s and early 2000s

Yes and what are the issues with these type of house parties?

Will you want to be doing house parties and coke in your 50s? Aside from drugs, will you want to be doing shots and shorts in your fifties? I’ll answer that actually. You won’t. 

You stated the above in relation to them. We already don't do coke. Some enjoy shorts as they just don't enjoy beer or cider, they prefer whiskey or vodka.

Do you not know anyone who drinks shorts in their 50's? Do you never go to friend's houses for drinks with some music on?

I can guarantee you that if we're all still around, we'll still be doing that when we're in our 50's.

That's not entirely true that's it's an Irish phenomenon, changing demographics have really shrunk the once famous Dutch and even Berlin nightclub scene too.

I remember my mom complaining about the opening of nighclubs being responsible for the dwindling of bingo halls.

Demographics is destiny. Gyms are where it's at now.

I can only speak for 22 not 25 years ago but clubs that were actual dance clubs playing club music was only a Dublin thing from what I remember. I'm also pretty sure that for my entire adult life only Dublin had an actual club scene.

Every other city had big rooms playing pop for people who wanted to drink past midnight or dance to Beyonce.

In the rest of Europe clubs are for people who like clubbing which is not the case in the vast majority of Irish clubs.

Try telling that to some people on here.

He still has a few years in him-

And they will come to him-

Ah, how original, yet another article reporting on the apparent demise of the Irish pub. The fact we see so many of the same type of article regurgitated is a story in itself - that, despite what some on here might like to claim, the Irish pub holds a special place in the Irish psyche. This particular article is just another attempt at sensationalising a tired story.

We all know that pubs have seen a dramatic decline since their heyday of the 70's/80's. This has been well publicised and the reasons well-documented. I don't think having 9/10 pubs in a town of 200 people is anything to celebrate, nor is not having them anything to lament. The market was wildly oversaturated, and coupled with legislation and consumer habits, closures were inevitable. However, in recent times the rate of closures has decreased, and in some cases, there has been a net gain in pubs - particularly in urban locations. So to me, the market is simply finding a new equilibrium, where previously there were 9/10 pubs, there are now 2/3. I don't think there is anything necessarily wrong with that. They will always exist, just in reduced numbers, which we are seeing stabilise now.

I should say that I'm not a publican, nor have I skin in the game, but my experience is very different from that presented in the article. I frequently travel to Dingle, Killarney, Tralee, Limerick, Galway and the pub scenes there are thriving from what I see. In particular, there have been numerous new bars open in Dingle & Killarney, granted they are tourist towns, but I see them packed with stags, GAA teams, locals, and not just tourists, whenever I visit. "The show is basically over" - I think not. Even in my own local town, we have 5 bars, each doing a good trade. Similar with villages nearby. Furthermore, I work in an Irish university, and contrary to the beliefs of some on here, and in the article, young people do love a drink! And do so in the pubs too. I have seen this firsthand! I think some are vastly overstating the importance of Instagram and the gym.

Finally, some on here could do with tempering the sanctimonious, pious, holier-than-thou rhetoric. You'd swear pubs were the root of all evil, judging by some of the shite I've seen on here. Lots of people, myself included, go to the pub occasionally, to have a few drinks, socialise, have a chat, watch some sport, listen to some music, maybe eat some food. That doesn't make me, or anyone else, an alcoholic. I hope that those of you prancing around the gym with your airpods in, uploading solitary selfies to Instagram, and sitting-in watching a Netflix chosen by an algorithm can see the irony of pontificating about socialising. If people don't like pubs, that's fine, but don't come on here extolling the virtues of your gym routine or running club in an era when people are lonelier than ever. And as that loneliness and isolation only increases, I can see the Irish pub becoming increasingly prominent.

TLDR: Long live the Irish pub!!

Did your partner and yourself believe you would reach middle age in the London of 1979?

Tinder and Internet dating peaked a decade ago, alot of people especially women became disillusioned with it because it was full of creeps, married men and lyers. Also the profile pictures were touched up so the reality never met the image and profile. At least in pubs and clubs you knew straight away whether there was a physical attraction and you got a good idea about personality. Also you couldn't hit on 100s of people like you can with Internet dating, therefore Internet dating just turned to muck because most of the volume wasn't genuine

I hear these stories all the time, but comparing Centra/Dunnes/SuperValu with the pub is like comparing apples with oranges. Do you honestly expect publicans to sell drink for the same price as Centra? I can get a coffee in my local cafe for €4.5, or can get the beans in Dunnes for €9 and make multiple coffees, but obviously don't compare the two as it's disingenuous.

I fail to see the point of these anecdotes.