Tipperary pub owner blames huge increase in rates and energy costs for local closures

A Tipperary publican has spoken out on how rising costs have hit the licensed trade in the county as recent figures show that there were 150 pub closures in the Premier County since 2005, with 26 alone in the past year, and 108 in 2022.

The figures were released by the Vintners Federation of Ireland last week. The VFI represents pubs and licensed premises outside the Dublin area.

“Costs are a huge player,” said VFI Tipperary representative Kieran Linnane, who runs the Castle Tavern in Thurles.

He revealed that his rates bill had more than doubled from €4,000 to €9,000, while his electricity bill had gone from €700 two years ago to €3,200.

Mr Linnane described the rates system as “slow to deal with”, and “hard to get through”, pointing out that reviews took place every five years.

“It needs to be updated yearly,” he said, as circumstances often changed.

In relation to his energy bill, Mr Linnane said that the price of electricity had gone from 15.9c per unit two years ago to 40c per unit, and some bills had reached as high as 77c per unit.

While costs had come back to 34c per unit, he pointed out that this was still more than double what he was paying two years ago

“The Government did give some support, but it was nowhere near where it should have been,” he said.

Insurance was another factor in closures, he maintained, saying insurance companies were “getting away with murder” when it came to premiums.

And he warned that increases were likely to get worse as more and more small brokers are bought out by the bigger companies.

“They are paying 13.5% of the book value and it’s the customer who will be left paying for that. We will be left with two or three brokers,” he warned.

While he doesn’t do food in his pub, Mr Linnane described the costs of food as “crazy”. It is well-documented the price of beef and fish.”

He knows of one food provider who was now charging €15 for a meal that used to cost €15, but they can’t break that €15 barrier as customers won’t pay anything higher.

“They say they had a better return on the €12 meal that they are getting now on the €15 one,” said Mr Linnane.

On top of that, he pointed out that there was a difficulty hiring staff and wages had gone up.

In terms of finding a solution to pub closures, Mr Linnane said that reducing excise duty would be a “quick fix”.

The VFI is looking for a 7.5% cut in excise duty in the upcoming Budget.

“While the Government can’t cut VAT without agreement from Brussels, they can cut excise duty in the morning,” he said, pointing out that Ireland’s excise duty was 10 times that of Germany.

Ireland also came out at the top end for duty on beer, wine and spirits throughout the EU.

“The excise duty came to €1.22bn last year. A 7.5% cut would cost the Government just €113.4m,” he said. “A reduction would actually have a positive economic effect as it would help sustain pubs, create more jobs and improve the tourism offering.”

In terms of a night-time economy, pubs had a problem with the lack of transport, especially taxis, for customers.

“We need an Uber system locally as every place can be different,” said Mr Linnane.

However, he said he didn’t want to dwell on the negatives, saying that with his 34 years in the business, he “fully understands what publicans do”.

“The Irish pub is at the heart of the community fr entertainment and as a meeting place, for funerals, a game of cards or watching matches. They offer sponsorship to local sports clubs and local events,” he said.

The Thurles publican pointed out that the Irish pub was still the number one tourism attraction in Ireland and was so highly thought of that it was being replicated around the world.

“Publicans are resilient. They are the unsung heroes watching over their local communities,” he maintained.

And when it comes to no closing times for those drinking at home, Mr Linnane said publicans were like the referee, able to tell people when they had too much to drink.