Six decades. That is how long Martin Keane must go back to remember the last time pubs shuttered on St Patrick’s Day in Ireland. 

Keane’s father was a barman, and, even today, Keane has a recollection in his mind of pubs closing when he was a young child.

“St Patrick’s Day was treated like it was a Good Friday,” he says. “I am not sure how long ago that was but I was a nipper. I am 72 now so it was quite a while ago.” 

Keane has been in the pub industry for 34 years and owns the iconic Oliver St John Gogarty pub in Temple Bar. Yesterday was the first time in all that period that he closed the property on St Patrick’s Day.

Rather than serving pints to tourists and revellers, Keane spent until early afternoon doing a stocktake in his renowned venue, a landmark property in Dublin’s tourist quarter that can hold over 200 people. 

For Keane, and the owners of the 7,000 pubs dotted around the country, this is just the start – and the terrifying reality is that no one knows the ending. The industry is in lockdown. Redundancies are rife. And the harsh, sobering truth is that it may be sometime before they open again.

*****

Last Saturday night, videos went viral of crowds walking through Temple Bar in the run up to St Patrick’s Day. A singsong inside one bar rapidly hit more than one million views on social media. 

The government had asked bars and other venues to voluntarily maintain social distancing. This proved impossible in one of the most popular parts of the capital for drinking and socialising. Social media outrage followed.

What was normal behaviour at any other time in Temple Bar grated with a country fearful of the full impact of Covid-19.

At 8.46pm Health Minister Simon Harris sent a tweet: “Not far from here, nurses & doctors are working to prepare for the impact of a global pandemic. Everyone is working 24/7. This is an insult to their efforts. There is very clear public health advice. Follow it.” 

While Harris was right in his sentiment, it was also the case that the government has not issued a directive banning bars from opening. 

It was practically impossible to expect busy bars to enforce a two-metre distance between customers on one of the most bustling weekends of the year. 

But it highlighted the disconnect between the wider public mood and the reality of running a pub in Temple Bar.  

Early on Sunday morning Keane and other publicans in Temple Bar received a call from Martin Harte, chief executive of the Temple Bar Company, which represents businesses in the area. The Gardai had also been in touch expressing their health concerns. 

At 10 am on Sunday morning about a dozen pub owners in Temple Bar met to discuss the coronavirus crisis. Between them, they employed 1,000 people directly and indirectly. Among the pub owners was Keane. He employs about 200 people directly and indirectly in his pubs, restaurant, hotel and hostel business.  

“We voluntarily decided to close that Sunday morning,” he said. “We saw how serious it was. It had come home to me all day on Saturday. You could see it was gathering speed and see what was happening in other parts of Europe. It was the right decision to close, even if it was very painful. We have to work together to beat the coronavirus. We have to do whatever it takes.”

Keane will meet with his staff today to discuss what to do next. “There will be some staff who will be let go,” he said. Keane said many staff were part-timers working shifts to supplement other income. 

Others had been with him for years, and Keane said he was hoping to try and give some of them jobs elsewhere in his business which also includes a hotel, hostel and assorted property assets. He said he would wait until Friday of this week before deciding exactly what to do. 

“The whole of Europe is in the same situation. There is going to be a big shortage of money. Tourism is for the chop.”

Martin Keane

“There is spring cleaning to be done, maintenance. I have my own little building company as well. If possible, I will be asking some people if they want different jobs. Guys who are with us a long time, there will be a different deal.”

Keane said he expected some pubs would not be able to weather the crisis. “This is going to be the worst we have ever seen. What is going to follow this is a recession. The whole of Europe is in the same situation. There is going to be a big shortage of money. Tourism is for the chop.”

Keane said he was not insured against the black swan event of a global pandemic hitting the entire country. He said other bars did have insurance against loss of profits, but it was not clear whether insurance firms would payout. 

“They would have to payout if there was a directive to close from the government. If closure is ‘voluntary’ they may not be entitled.” 

*****

*****

Keane said he was impressed by how the Gardai were dealing with the situation.

“This was good policing. They have been great at updating us on their preparations. It wasn’t close up or you’ll never fucking open up again. It was nothing like that. They were making us aware of the whole seriousness of the situation in an informative sort of way.”

“Everybody wants to make a living. The majority of people are carrying debt and so on and so forth,” Keane said. 

“Whether you are a publican, baker or candle sticker maker you are very worried. This is unprecedented.” 

“I am concerned, myself and I am a fella who doesn’t often worry. I don’t get stressed usually, but I do think about this a lot. This is a doomsday situation if it goes on for six months.”

Keane said Vat receipts and PRSI from the pub sector was set to plummet for the state post all the closures. He said the state needed to consider how the pubs business would fund other costs like rates, insurance and other overheads while their businesses are shut down. 

He said he was not hopeful that the banks would support the sector enough. “The banks… we know how helpful they were the last time,” he said.

“The banks always have umbrellas when the sun is shining and none when it is raining. I can’t see them being different this time. We didn’t get any great help from Europe last time either.”

Some publicans in Ireland, he said, were no longer dealing with mainstream banks as their debts had been sold to international investment funds. “This is the new problem. These funds are every bit as aggressive in this situation as they are in every situation. They won’t have any problem moving against you based on whatever you signed up to. They wouldn’t be known for their charity work.”

The crash was about money, says Louis Fitzgerald, this is about health and safety

Louis Fitzgerald is one of Ireland’s most successful publicans with 16 pubs in his portfolio as well as a large restaurant called Joels, and two hotels in Dublin. His pubs, which include in Dublin The Stag’s Head, Kehoes, Bruxelles and An Poitin Still as well as the Quays in Galway, are among the finest in the country. His group employs 1,200 people. 

“It is very strange to be sitting at home on St Patrick’s Day,” Fitzgerald told The Currency. “I was 50 years in business last year. There has been nothing like this. This is the worst thing that has happened ever.

“The crash was the crash. That was money. This is health and staying safe. We are living in very dangerous times when we could lose a lot of staff, friends and family. Nobody knows where this will end.

“It has been horrific for the hospitality industry but we are only the first casualties,” Fitzgerald said. “I am glad the government came out and closed down the pubs. If there was any criticism maybe they should have closed them down a few days earlier.” 

Fitzgerald said the Louis Fitzgerald Group had met with both management and staff to discuss the unfolding situation. He said once the government said pubs should close, he shutdown that part of his business. 

“I am guaranteeing my staff they won’t be out of pocket until April 3 or 4. We will pay their full wages,” Fitzgerald said. “The government has done a great job in terms of their health and safety procedures.

“When it gets to April 4 and if this is still going on we will have to sit down and talk to staff again at that point of time,” he added. 

“I have been in this business for 50 years. My staff have been very loyal to me during hard times and in return at this point in time I will be very loyal to them. I feel obligated to look after them now as they looked after me in difficult times.” 

Fitzgerald said he welcomed the support offered by the government to staff and employers. He said if the crisis continued for a long time more assistance would be needed including initiatives such as rent allowances for people who lost their jobs. 

The veteran publican said he played golf yesterday morning to try and relax. “I have only started playing but I wanted to get out in the fresh air and keep my mind off things. I am at peace.” 

“I think it is the right thing to do to close. We have a responsibility to our staff and customers to give them a safe environment.” 

Does Fitzgerald think that some pubs may go bust? “I do hope we can come out of this without too many casualties. When eventually we get back to being able to work we know it will be very difficult as money won’t be plentiful.” 

“We will have to knuckle down. We did it before during the recession. Hopefully this will come to an end in seven to ten weeks. It is going to be very difficult.

“There is a general resilience and work ethic out there [in Irish business]. There were a lot of casualties in the recession but we are on a different wavelength now. I think the banks will be more understanding this time around.”

“I think when we come to the end of the year we will see a major dip in profits. It is only money,” Fitzgerald said. “We can overcome this tragedy.” 

“I think the government will step up and do something. The last recession lasted a good number of years.

“The stress levels in the last recession and the health issues and the scars that came out of the last recession was in part because of the way the government dealt with it.

“Its response wasn’t as good as it should have been. It was a bit amateur. They didn’t have the business intelligence. They allowed hedge funds and those people to come in and buy up the country.

“We are more experienced this time around. I have great confidence in the way the government has been managing things in the last few weeks.”

Fitzgerald said the recent government initiative to bring people home or out of retirement to assist in the crisis was an example of this.

“I think when we come to the end of the year we will see a major dip in profits. It is only money,” Fitzgerald said. “We can overcome this tragedy.” 

Fitzgerald said he believed the government should consider closing restaurants too. He said his group had decided to close Joels Restaurant on the Naas Road, which seats 400 people. 

“We have just put up a sign saying we close tonight. The staff will get their full wages until early April.” 

It all could have been so different if the coronavirus had not arrived. “We were having one of the best years in our history,” Fitzgerald said ruefully. “Then, all of a sudden, it is gone.”

*****

Martin Keane was just finishing a coffee and preparing to go home when he spoke to The Currency around 4pm yesterday. What are you going to do for the rest of the day? 

“I am going to head home now and cook myself a fine dinner,” Keane replied. “I am going to have a bottle of wine, while I can still afford it, and I may even have a second one. It’s been that sort of day.”