65% of Irish publicans who took part in a new survey published by the Vintners Federation of Ireland (VFI) believe that they will go out of business by January 2021, based on current conditions.
1,539 publicans whose pubs are currently closed took part in the survey.
Debts And Grant Aid
48% of the publicans who took part in the survey said that their pubs have accrued debts of €16,000 or more since they closed due to the continuing COVID-19 pandemic, and 19% of those said that they have accumulated debts of at least €30,000.
Additionally, 95% of the publicans who took part in the survey said that they believe that they will need grant aid provided for each week of closure for their pubs to survive, while 4% said that they are content.
"The Key Now"
VFI president Padraic McGann, stated, "The key now is what is the government going to do to keep the sector going. The tánaiste said if the government further delays the reopening of pubs, he wants to see a plan announced to help these pubs survive. So do we. The focus is on what steps the government now takes, or whether their national strategy for dealing with the pandemic is to just drive these business to the wall."
© 2020 Hospitality Ireland – your source for the latest industry news. Article by Dave Simpson. Click subscribe to sign up for the Hospitality Ireland print edition.
