New restrictions result in closures
New restrictions result in closures
As the new 20:00 closing time comes into effect restaurants are gearing up to close.
Hugo’s, a prominent city-centre restaurant, announced that when they close at lunchtime on Christmas Eve they won’t reopen. The wine bar wrote in a social media post: “Devastated to have made the very difficult decision to close our beloved Hugo’s after lunch on Xmas Eve until February, OR when restrictions are lifted & we can trade properly”.
O’Neill’s pub on Pearse Street is closing up shop until the new restrictions are lifted. In a statement, they said, “Unfortunately it’s not viable to trade under the new restrictions”.
Popular restaurant Hang Dai closed last night for two weeks citing restrictions but also the increase in Covid incidents: “To be honest, the 8 pm closing isn’t the only reason we’re doing this. Covid seems to be everywhere at the moment “
Speaking of the restrictions Padraig Cribben, chief executive of the Vintners’ Federation of Ireland (VFI), said: “The reality is this decision will decimate the trade that was already on its knees.”
Those with roaring lunch trades may survive. Though with everyone working from home it is hard to know if any business has a sustainable amount of people to support a daytime lunch trade.
This is a significant blow to the simmering Irish food culture evolution as well as to the individual businesses and staff.
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