'You're looking at the destruction of goodwill': publicans demand Covid-19 support package
As an air of scepticism builds among publicans who await the day they can reopen, calls for support have seemingly been heard by Tánaiste, Leo Varadkar, who says he "hopes" he will have an additional financial package for pubs if they cannot reopen on August 31.
The Licensed Vintners Association and Vintners' Federation of Ireland have called on the Government to provide a support package for pubs who do not serve food and are unable to open due to public-health concerns.
It is understood that an estimated €1.3m per week is needed overall to support the pubs that remain closed.
Mr Varadkar said the focus remains on reopening schools and there is a possibility that pubs may be ordered to remain closed for another few months.
"What we're trying to do here is manage risk, is to minimise the extent the virus is circulating in the community," he said.
"I'd love to go to the pub, I'd love to be in the pub again, but they're not as important as schools. The vast majority of people in society would accept that children need to go back to school for education, and families getting back into a routine is an economic and social priority for us.
"I've met with publicans and groups, and, in some ways, they're being asked to make a sacrifice for society and they are getting financial support.”
What the vintner groups are calling for is a pub support package of direct financial aid.
This would see payments offered to pubs that are forced to remain closed on the same pro-rata basis as the recently enhanced Covid-19 restart scheme.
These would range from €270 per week to €1,650 depending on the rateable valuation of the premises and would apply from June 29 onwards.
They are also calling for the pandemic unemployment payment and temporary wage subsidy scheme to be maintained for all closed pubs until they can reopen.
However, some publicans don’t believe the supports will be enough.
Benny McCabe, who owns several pubs across Cork City, said that no level of compensation will go far enough to cover the damage of “goodwill” that publicans are facing.
“You're looking here at the wilful destruction of goodwill if pubs remain closed up to the new year. In my view, when you destroy the goodwill towards a business, by keeping them closed that long, there's no payments or breaks will compensate for that,” said Mr McCabe.
Goodwill, in this case, refers to the value of a company's brand name, its customer base, as well as good customer and employee relations.
“Pubs are built on goodwill. If we continue to be treated differently to other businesses, It leads to the destruction of goodwill and hence the collapse of value on the business."
Meanwhile, a country pub dating back generations has served its last pint, because it could not continue trading due to prolonged coronavirus restrictions on so-called wet pubs.
Pauline and Simon McAuliffe said the virus “put the final nail” in the coffin of their halfway house, which has survived war and battled recessions. McAuliffe’s halfway house, located off the R512 between Bruff and Kilmallock, Co Limerick, has been a lifeline for locals in Dromin for hundreds of years.
With only a parish hall and a church, there is nothing else of note in the townland.
“I’m feeling worse than ever. Today some of the local customers called in and it was the same as if it was a death in our house,” said Ms McAuliffe as she fought back tears.
“I’m upset for them because they are also feeling the emotion of it, and I think it has suddenly hit them that we are not going to reopen.
“People say, with time things get better, but, for me, it’s getting worse, but what can we do?"
Meanwhile, gardaí said that on August 4-9, they found potential breaches of the health regulations in pubs across the country. According to gardaí, the majority of these were in reference to "no evidence of food being served or consumed".