PUBLICANS from all over Ireland walked to the Dáil on Thursday and called on the Government to help save the 5,000 jobs predicted to be lost in the pub industry in 2012. The VFI claim 30,000 jobs have been lost in the pub trade in the last five years alone at an estimated current annual cost to the exchequer of €630m.
Speaking at the meeting, the President of the VFI, Gerry Mellett, himself a rural publican based in Carlow said; “The pub industry is on its knees and more than one pub is closing every day. The industry is haemorrhaging jobs and last year over 5,000 people went out of work from our industry. That is the equivalent of five “Avivas” and next year is looking even bleaker. We have experienced our worst October in over two decades after years of decline and we need urgent action to save jobs.”
The publicans, who are all members of the Vintners’ Federation of Ireland (“VFI”), gathered outside Dáil Éireann to highlight the major concerns and challenges facing thousands of pubs, predominantly family-run businesses, throughout Ireland.
Photo shows John McMahon, from Limerick who joined the hundreds of publicans, all Vintners’ Federation of Ireland members, as they walked to Dáil Éireann.
