A POSSE of pint-loving heroes have cancelled last orders in the village after pooling their savings together to save their local pub from closure.
The 26-person group, including 25 men and one woman, purchased Kilteely’s only watering hole, Ahern’s, after it went on the market for €300,000.
The sale had threatened to quench the communities thirst for craic, however, after pooling their pennies together, the devoted pub-goers saved their beloved boozer — proving that friendship, froth, and a dash of community spirit are the perfect cocktail.
The group renamed the premises The Street Bar, and extended an invitation to the White House for US President Donald Trump to drop in for his first pint of non-alcoholic “Kilteely cream”.
One of the pub’s local investors, landscape gardener Noel O’Dea said: “They say it takes a village to raise a child, but I tell you, it also takes a village to save its pub.”
Not one of the 26 investors have pub trade experience, but they refused to drown their sorrows over the impending pub closure.
“The pub is the heart of any community, and because all the shops and pubs here were gone, this was our last meeting place,” Noel said.
“We just couldn’t see the people in the village having no place to go to, because otherwise it is just a group of houses.”
Lamenting the loss of two other pubs, two shops, two post offices, and a creamery locally, Noel said the only other business in the Limerick village – recycling venture KDI (Kilteely Dromkeen Innovation) – employs seven people, which was also set up by locals “after the last recession hit and because employment was hard to get”.
In what must be the most expensive ‘round’ ever, the local pub group each invested up to €15,000 to keep the drinks pouring and the craic flowing.
The eclectic group, which includes a clinical psychologist, barrister, solicitor, pharmacist, carpenter, accountant, farmers, a teacher, sign-maker, builders, and electricians, is also considering how best to use a shop premises included in the pub sale.
One of the group said they should invite US President Donald Trump, who does not drink alcohol, to their pub to sample his first pint of non-alcoholic “Kilteely cream”.
Extending the invite to presidents, princesses, and paupers alike, Noel added: “We have a festival every year and it’s on in two weeks’ time. This year we are going to have Ireland’s first ever black pudding festival, so everyone is welcome.”
Noel said the group is “asking butchers and anyone who is good at making food at home” to take part “because the art of making pudding is dying out and we are just trying to revive it”.
Another member of the group, barrister Liam Carroll, said that “rural pubs are dying out all over the country, so we decided to come together to save ours, and hopefully we can keep it going, employ a few people, and harness the community spirit that we have ‘on tap’ here”.
Mr Carroll also encouraged other communities to group together to keep their dying pubs alive, saying “there is little or no profits in this type of venture, but it is vital to keep local communities from dying out”.
