Irish people are having the craic but not in Ireland

THERE are now more Irish pubs abroad than in Ireland. In fact, there are 53 countries in the world where you can find an Irish pub, including such far-off places as Mongolia, Bolivia, Russia and Australia. McCafferty’s bar in Dubai is officially the largest Irish pub in the world.

I have never been to that premises, but I have been to another one owned by the same family, in Meenagowan, Lettermacaward, Co Donegal – literally a crossroads a couple of miles from the beautiful Dooey Beach – and I’m not surprised the pub in Dubai has proved popular. The place was hopping day and night and is everything you imagine a good Irish pub to be: good food, friendly staff, great music and a sense of being ‘home’, even when you’re not.

Sadly, it would appear that chain of pubs – there are several McCafferty’s in Ireland and abroad – are bucking the trend. For a myriad of reasons, the pub trade in this country is on its knees.

There are approximately 7,000 Irish pubs abroad but just over 6,600 in Ireland, with that number dropping by an average of 112 closures a year. In fact, over the past 20 years a total of 2,100 pubs across the country have closed their doors.

And it doesn’t look like it is going to change any time soon. Another frightening statistic is that 45% fewer customers are going to the pub this year than in 2024, so don’t be surprised if that average of 112 closures a year goes up over the coming months and years.

You could say that the 55 cents excise duty and 23% VAT on a pint has a lot to do with it, but that would be only part of the problem. Publicans face an entire range of other charges and costs before they get to put any profit in their pockets.

I agree it is difficult to stomach the huge prices we have to pay for a drink, especially when you see what drink costs in the supermarket or off-licence, and yes, I agree it is difficult to understand why a glass of wine should cost anywhere from €10 upwards in most Irish establishments compared to the €2.30 a glass that I paid recently when in Portugal. Is it a case of rip-off Ireland or simply trying to keep the doors open? I don’t know.

However, while I lament the slow demise of the Irish pub – we are known the world over for being a friendly nation, and that started by mingling in the local pub, exchanging a bit of gossip, philosophising at times and trying to sound more intelligent than we really were, thanks to a few too many drinks, meeting members of the opposite or even the same sex, and generally learning how to behave ourselves with drink taken – it would appear we are now drinking way too much alcohol for our own good.

Unfortunately, as any publican will tell you, that is happening in the home, where there is no closing time and no-one to put manners on you or simply say stop when you have consumed too much booze.

According to the campaign group Alcohol Action Ireland, the Irish public has been drinking too much because of outdated weekly alcohol consumption guidelines that haven’t been updated in a decade. Ireland’s current guidelines state that a ‘low risk’ level of drinking is 11 standard drinks a week for women and 17 for men, significantly higher than other countries.

Now the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) will examine the links between alcohol consumption and mental health issues, following which it could change the recommended low-risk guidelines.

While I welcome any review, does it really take a year, because it will be thing time next year before the results of that review are published. Also, everyone knows that drinking too much is not good for anyone.

While taking a few drinks can lift your spirits, too much alcohol acts in the reverse – and with people working from home, not socialising as we all did in the past, and drinking too much because there is no-one there to say ‘perhaps you have had enough’, there is bound to be people suffering from mental issues.

During Covid, the authorities went to great lengths to encourage people to stay in touch with each other and organise social events on their street or in their neighbourhood; in other words, keep the lines of communication open between themselves and their neighbours.

The isolation came to an end – or did it? – when life supposedly returned to normal. For many, they continue to live in a bubble and while the isolation may not be as pronounced as it was, it is still there.

I’m not saying going to the pub is the answer to all our problems – because when we were flocking through their doors, there were still people with mental issues, people drinking too much, violence on our streets just like there is today – but all you have to do is look into any Irish pub when abroad and it will be packed with Irish people having the craic, something which is sadly missing from Irish society today.