Irish pubs

seamus · 10-10-2008 01:01PM

Degsy wrote: »

because they werent making the sort of profits they were accustomed to.

The problem with pubs is that they expect more out of the business than is reasonable. The mark-up that publicans make is far higher than for most types of similar businesses - restaurants, hotels, shops and so forth.

Any publican who owns a medium-sized pub (say, holding 100), is doing extraordinarily well if they can take €100k profit at the end of the year. Yet half of the pricks expect to take in half a million and decide it's a failure when they don't.

Fulton Crown · 10-10-2008 02:26PM

As a fairly experienced toper - I would say that reading all the posts cost and the drink driving law enforcement are the main issues.

It does however irk me somewhat to hear that gimp from the Vintners Federation blaming everybody and everything for the fall off in trade except his own members.

Far too many pubs appear not to realise that they are in the hospitality business and actually need to satisfy customer requirements !

There are a couple of pubs which I frequent fairly regularly - yet each time I go in - no recognition / no greeting / no "same as usual" - in fairness EVERYBODY gets this treatment.

Come on publicans - up off your arshes - make the punter feel welcome - recruit people friendly bar staff - do a bit o freekin market research on customer preferences - an stop bleedin whinging !:eek:

Stabshauptmann · 10-10-2008 02:51PM

The idea of spending a day in a pub drinking 15 pints of beer doesnt appeal to them, the ****wit says it like its a bad thing.

Pubs are badly run; music too loud and booze too expensive. Tis there own fault.

Heroditas · 10-10-2008 03:36PM

If they got rid of the battery of TVs then some people might be interested in heading down the pub for a quiet pint. I really hate going into some pubs and no matter where you sit, your eyes slowly start floating up towards the flat screen TV that is showing football - be it Monday, Tuesday, whenever.... :mad:

OPENROAD · 10-10-2008 08:32PM

Fulton Crown wrote: »

There are a couple of pubs which I frequent fairly regularly - yet each time I go in - no recognition / no greeting / no "same as usual" - in fairness EVERYBODY gets this treatment.

+1

I travel to London quite a bit and frequent the same pub there, not an irish bar, always get a nice welcome which I don't get here. The whole Irish pub thing and the craic is overrated imo, Dublin pubs lack atmosphere are expensive and have poor choice when it comes to beers imo

Shelflife · 10-10-2008 09:15PM

To my mind there are two main reasons.

1. The cost of drink has put off alot of people.

2. the publicans havent adapted to the changing market, with the drink driving why didnt all the pubs in the smaller towns and villages get together and organise a taxi/bus to bring customers into the pub and home for a small fee.

they dont upgrade their facilities, dirty toilets, old decor etc,

no effort to account for changing tastes a wine for madam? chardonnay or ehhh... chardonnay.

little or no effort to bring in a crowd midweek, no music karoke, games, competitions etc.

they simply havent moved with the times.

DenMan · 10-10-2008 10:38PM

tbh I have gone off the whole pub scene now. The pub culture is quite depressing now, as indeed it always has been. If bands are playing I will definitely head down and support them. The price is really unforgiving here as is the weather. What is really going to entice people to get up and go out, especially since we are in the initial stages of the winter? Just back from Crete where I had a blast. Everything was cheap(er) and the weather was beautiful. Somebody mentioned a karaoke, great fun if you have the weather and a good crowd. Pub numbers are falling and in Ireland we are getting like the Americans and the Canadians, taking alcohol home and having nice house parties with friends/guests etc. Just my 2c.

jester77 · 10-10-2008 11:37PM

Silenceisbliss wrote: »

nearly all the Irish pubs here in hamburg in germany, and every single one we wandered into while interrailing eastern europe were BRITISH OWNED!

the brits are stealing and using our nations good name for their own benefit! nobody goes into a british bar... so the damn potato heads write IRISH BAR on the front and everyone thinks "hmmm...irish, those lads are great craic, lets go in here"....penis heads

I don't spend much time in the Irish bars but I know some of the guys that run them, the lad that owns Finnegans is N. Irish, the guy that owns the Shamrock is British, the guy that owns Irish Rover is from Dublin and I'm fairly sure that the lads that own the bars on Hans Alberts Platz are Irish. IMO they are all very poor and over priced, only in there for the rugby!

hussey · 11-10-2008 12:36AM

After living away from Ireland for 3 years I miss the pubs ... I miss the craic/atmosphere I have in the pubs with my friends.
but that is it.

Last time I went home I paid 5.20 for a pint of bulmers ...
I live in Sydney and my local serves pints for $5.60 (2.80euro), but yet in Sydney we still do the people's house for bbq/drinks then city/pub thing.

Nearly all of Ireland's social life involves the pub, we are simply changing (for the good), if we move from the pub to someone's house, then good, we pride ourself on the 'craic' we have, but is it really worth paying double so we can have a good reputation?
I fear Ireland will become more like Scandinavia where prices are so high no-one goes out until 11/12pm as they drink in houses then party in city.

if over priced pubs are closing, then good, if this means the prices will go down to a reasonable level.

Everyone knows they are over priced but still people do not complain. As a nation we need to start to complain more (not moan), by not buying over priced goods.

lostexpectation · 11-10-2008 01:17AM

"The inclination to go off and sit down in a pub and drink 15 pints over the course of a day doesn't sit easily with making a fortune."

jesus christ, there so many things wrong with that sentence

The Mighty Ken · 11-10-2008 01:43AM

The two main reasons I can't be arsed with going to the pub anymore:

Drink is too expensive. A pint of lager should cost no more than €3 tops.
Music is too loud. Last time I went for a pint after work, everyone stood there across from each other, staring around themselves. There was no point in trying to have a conversation as the music was so loud. Why do pubs do this? Most customers over 21 hate it. The pub is supposed to be a sociable place.

Tricity Bendix · 11-10-2008 01:45AM

OPENROAD wrote: »

+1

I travel to London quite a bit and frequent the same pub there, not an irish bar, always get a nice welcome which I don't get here. The whole Irish pub thing and the craic is overrated imo, Dublin pubs lack atmosphere are expensive and have poor choice when it comes to beers imo

The only place I've ever built a rapour with the staff was in an Irish bar in New York. They threw me a leaving bash when my visa expired and everything. Bar staff here don't give a flying f about their customers.

stovelid · 11-10-2008 01:53AM

I would care about having a rapport in my local, and I do; caring about bar staff in a city centre super-pub.night club at 1AM doing it...meh...all I want is a drink. Quickly.

the_syco · 11-10-2008 02:15AM

Meh.
Bus to Dublin €2
Bus back from Dublin €5
Taxi from village to home €6
Drink (Sunni&7up) €7 a go

Total cost: €60

I goto Fibbers myself. There's music if you want it, a decent beer garden where you can sit down, smoke, and chill. No music out there. Downstairs, there's a few quite places.

Or Reillys (opposite Trinity). Loud music, but good craic.

The local pubs, either The Courtyard or the GAA, have great sheltered smoking areas. Also, the Courtyard serves till 1.30am or so, so happy days.

I'll go to a nightclub if I'm feeling horny. No other reason to goto one.

Raze_them_all · 11-10-2008 02:28AM

In Kilkenny pints are still less than 5e, I get a few free shots whenever i go out, Usually spend the night taking the piss outta the bar staff and what not. Maybe the problem is Dub pubs!!

patrickbrophy18 · 11-10-2008 11:41AM

Do you guys think that the Intoxicating Liquor Bill will damage the pub trade even further?

Shelflife · 11-10-2008 03:25PM

No its designed to help them by making it less attractive to open an off licence, by reducing their opening hours and putting restrictions on instore and external advertising.

The whole point of the bill was to curb disorderly conduct, you can see the above measures will do just that

.

why they dont just lock up the louts and fine them €500 is beyond me or even better bring back the stocks and leave them tied up in the town centre for the day.

Blitzkrieger · 11-10-2008 04:20PM

I think it all has to go down to cost and the drink driving issue. For a lot of peole the drink driving causes a lot of problems. You probably have to get a taxi to the pub because you can't park your car anywhere and don't have time to collect it the next day. Though it does seem easier to get a taxi in Cork these days, it's not so great in some places and adds to the cost of a night out. There's also the worry of getting caught over the limit the next morning. Even at the weekends there's a fair chance you have to drive somewhere the next morning.

The cost thing isn't entirely the publicans fault. A lot of the money goes to Diageo (or whoever) or the government, or on overheads. I wouldn't excuse them all of being greedy bastards but who's paying for that big overhaul of the Guinness brewery? But then, it's always been expensive to go to the pub. When times were hard you couldn't spend all day sitting around drinking 15 pints, even if that's exaclty what some ****ers did anyway.....

There has been a culture change too and our priorities for where we spend our money has changed. A lot of people would rather have the '08 SUV in the driveway of their big-ass house than spend time socialising in the pub. There's a lot more going on in our lives too. 20 years ago there was no paying the Sky bill because Sky TV didn't exist. Going to a physiotherapist was unheard of - you suffered on. You wouldn't be buying mobile phones and designer clothes for your kids, or paying for them to be going to the cinema every time Pixar brings something new out.

I never drink at home and my friends all live too far away to be taking turns having house parties. I go to the pub to socialise and have a few drinks while I'm there. I tend to go to the local a lot more in the last couple of years instead of to the city. I tended to meet more new people when I drank in the city more, but the craic down the local is good too. I know next weekend when the match is on, there's no way I'm going to watch it at home - it'll be much more fun with the atmosphere in the pub.

[aside]Jebus - I can't believe that guy got paid to go on a pub crawl around the country. Let's be honest - who the **** is going to buy that book? Is it any wonder the country is in recession when people throw money at twats like that. What kind of name is Turtle anyway....[/aside]

more off topic comments :

seamus wrote: »

What's the first thing most Irish people do when they go abroad? Look for an Irish pub.

I actually do that a lot because the Irish pub tends to be a tourist trap. I remember chatting to two Finnish girls in an Irish pub in Brussels who had been there two days earlier than us. They recommended a great nightclub.

seamus wrote: »

It's also the immigrants' fault that pubs are closing. They don't drink enough. The Poles all drink at home. For shame!

Lol - remember a big group of Polish lads bemused at why they were being kicked out of the local during the last world cup. They were sitting around drinking cans in the smoking area....

fifth · 11-10-2008 05:45PM

I've definitely noticed a lot of people i know won't go out now unless they're well on their way after having a few drinks at home first. It's always better I think!

hopalong85 · 11-10-2008 06:51PM

yeah, i'll usually be drinking at home before going out these days. unless it's just down to the pub for a few quiet ones.

Tawny · 11-10-2008 07:40PM

Ok so just out of interest...

who went to the pub last night or will go this weekend at some stage?

DublinWriter · 11-10-2008 07:55PM

Raze_them_all wrote: »

Maybe the problem is Dub pubs!!

Exactly.

The pubs under pressure are the small, family run country places that in general, do offer very good value for money.

The uber-pubs such as Cafe Insane will never be short of Rubes to pay over €6 a pint.

The smoking ban has definitely made us all re-evaluate the whole pub experience and made us adopt a more Euro-centric home-drinking habit.

Personally, I would have visited a pub at least once a weekend. Now it's more like once every six months.

Burial · 13-10-2008 03:42PM

@Tawny: I did. Twice and I would've gone on Sunday but I was wrecked. All-in-all I spent 50 euro in total on both night and I consider that really good and I'm actually proud of myself, though I'm thinking I must've found money on the street. No way it was that cheap... Though I did have to walk home...

Irish pubs

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