This week, a frank take on how we should deal with public disorder; Musings on recent restaurant closures; Weather woes; And a true tale with a sting in it…
In this age of everything wonderful (supposedly) about social media, and at a time when we can share everything we do with people we have never met and most likely never will – from what we eat for breakfast to even the most intimate details of our lives – I have to admit that I am still a newspaper man. Every week, to my wife’s horror, I bring approximately 10 or 12 papers into the house.
The big problem is getting rid of them. Even though they are still the best things for cleaning glass, I am continually told that there are papers lying everywhere about the house, and to please gather them up and bin them.
However, in my opinion newspapers are the best way to keep up with all the happenings in the world – from the latest in news and business, to entertainment and sport.
In the last week or so, for example, there have been numerous reports on the closure of restaurants all over the country. Three very well established businesses in Dublin – Ukiyo (20 years open), Brasserie Sixty6 (25 years open) and Rustic Stone (15 years open) – all of which are very prominent eating houses on the lucrative Dublin market, have all been forced to close their doors.
The high running costs – from spiralling prices on produce, to wage demands, rents, rates, and VAT – are all cited among the reasons for closure. But most worrying of all, among the reasons are the problems with anti-social behaviour in the inner city; some patrons are afraid to come into town after dark, and prefer to go to outer shopping centres.
Lack of adequate policing on the streets is a huge concern to business owners and customers alike, and the public is voting with its feet. And so as a result, takings in these three restaurants were substantially down, and all of them have now ceased to trade.
Since last September, 577 restaurants and cafes have closed down, according to the Restaurants Association of Ireland. Politically, it seems that the decision in last year’s Budget to increase the VAT rate from 9% to 13.5% has been pretty disastrous.
In fact, according to Adrian Cummins of the Restaurant Association of Ireland, the change in the VAT rate has been the major contributory factor. Along with the increase in January of the minimum wage by 12.4%, in his words – “the model is broken”. At this point, he believes the upcoming Budget is the most important ever, saying it’s last chance saloon for the hospitality sector.
With about one in ten people working in the hospitality industry in Ireland, one would expect the Government to do something to halt all of these closures.
I am the first to admit that I don’t eat out very often. The truth is that, in a lot of places, the prices are prohibitive. And as someone who used to visit Spain on a reasonably regular basis, I always wondered how they can produce top quality meals at a fraction of our prices.
One of the few programmes I watch on telly nowadays is The Hotel Inspector, where Alex Polizzi tries to help struggling hotels and guesthouses get back on their feet. Invariably she finds that restaurants have far too much stuff on their menus, and that they would be far better off with simplified, more basic menus.
Now I wrote all of the above on Saturday night, and as I continue with it on Sunday, I have (as it happens) just come back from having an unplanned Sunday lunch in Screene’s of Guilka, outside Moylough. I told you before of the great value, quality, and service that Screene’s has to offer, but in truth it was more than a year since I had last visited it, and I am glad to report that nothing had changed; the place was packed, the food was both tasty and more than substantial, and the price was still extremely good. And as I studied the varied but uncomplicated menu, I wondered if some of our upper class eateries just lost the run of themselves? Are they having to charge exorbitant prices for stuff the ordinary Irish punter mightn’t want to eat in the first place?
Some weeks ago, we dined in Regan’s in Roscommon, and it too had all the signs of a busy but affordable restaurant.
I hate to see any business close its doors – and undoubtedly the hospitality sector needs help from our Government – but at the same time, places like Regan’s and Screene’s and many more can continue to offer great value, great food, and pleasant surroundings – and still keep their doors open.
Maybe there’s a lesson there somewhere!
Crime and (lack of) punishment…
As mentioned, one of the reasons given for the fall-off in the restaurant takings in Dublin was the effect anti-social behaviour had on the respective areas. This made me think about the huge difference between our reaction here in Ireland to the disturbances in Coolock on July 15th, and the reaction across the water after the July 29th knife attacks and subsequent disorder in Southport.
30 people were arrested here after the Coolock trouble, but at the time of writing none of them have been sentenced. 20 people have appeared before the courts, but all were released on bail and will appear before the courts again next month. 30 more who were arrested after the riots in Dublin on November 23rd are still awaiting sentencing, and Justice Minister Helen McEntee has given no timeframe as to when this will actually happen – although she does say they could face up to ten years in jail.
Contrast that to the zero tolerance attitude being shown to miscreants over in the UK, where trials were fast-tracked, extra prosecutors were deployed, extra court sittings were ordered, and 190 people have already been sentenced – with most of them going to prison.
It’s time our legislators came down hard on those who choose to disobey the law and carry out acts of thuggery and violence, and we should follow the UK’s example and make them realise such behaviour will not be tolerated.
So speed up the system, get them their trials, and send them off to jail to ponder the wisdom of their actions.
Rain check on August weather
As I finish this week’s column, we are into the last week of August – and if ever there was proof we are experiencing climate change, one can say that this month has provided it.
Pitches that would normally be as dry as a bone are now waterlogged messes, with lots of them in a worse condition than you would expect to see in the depths of winter.
On Sunday, our local football pitch, which is in great nick, was called upon to host the quarter-final of the senior hurling championship game between Oran and Athleague, because it was felt the excellent pitch in Ballyforan would not be able for two games in one day – they already had the other quarter-final between the Gaels and Tremane earlier on Sunday.
This was, of course, no reflection on the top class facilities in Ballyforan, but instead a sad indictment on all the rain that has fallen in the last few weeks.
I also attended a training session on a different pitch altogether on Sunday, and if I didn’t actually see it for myself I wouldn’t have believed how badly cut up it was after only a few minutes of training.
Maybe I am looking at life through (old) rose-tinted glasses, but I seem to remember in my young days seeing my uncle Michael cutting acres and acres of corn in the latter part of August, and never having any trouble with the machinery getting bogged down. But if we brought a tractor or a harvester into the pitch I was on last Sunday morning, I would say they might never surface again.
Anyway, once again it proved that the provision of the 4G pitch at the rugby club in Creggs was an inspired decision. On Saturday, we hosted two big underage interprovincials between Leinster and Connacht, and as usual the visiting Leinster supporters were visibly shocked by the facilities they found in our little village.
As I write this on Monday morning, the rain has just returned, and it looks like another wild, wet, and cold week to bring the month of August to a close. I can’t wait until January, when we might see some fine weather, and wall-to-wall sunshine!
You never know!
And finally…
You may recall me writing about a time a couple of summers ago when I had two nests of wasps in the hedge at the front of the house, and had to call on the services of Alan O’Keeffe of AOK Pest Control to get rid of them.
Well today I read in the paper about the horrific experience Welshman Andrew Powell had last Sunday at the hands (not sure if that’s the right word) of hundreds of wasps.
He had just returned from a bike ride when the wasps swarmed on top of him, and by the time they were finished he had been stung 240 times. His wife described his back as being “a carpet of wasps”.
Andrew said that he kept going in and out of consciousness and credited his local hospital’s minor injuries unit for saving his life. I presume Roscommon Hospital has a similar unit, but either way, if you do have a nest of wasps anywhere around you, don’t try to get rid of them yourself – call the experts.
