Tag Archives: Charlie O’Meara

WHILE licensing laws are set to be liberalised, people in the trade in Clare say it is unlikely to have much impact on business in the county.  Pubs are set to be allowed to open until 12.30am every day of the week, removing the need to close at 11.30 from Monday to Thursday and at 11 on Sundays.  Nightclubs are set to be allowed to stay open until 6am.  Chairman of the Clare branch of the Vintners Federation of Ireland Charlie O’Meara said it is unlikely that the change will make much impact on pubs in the county. “There are so many pubs that are just trying to keep their doors open at the moment, with the overheads, and even trying to staff them is hard. Bringing in opening until 12.30, I don’t think it’s going to make a major difference in rural Ireland.” He said that even in Ennis, many pubs are already closing two or three nights a …

THE Clare chairman of the Vinters Federation of Ireland (VFI) has warned that without State support in the upcoming budget there will be more pub closures. Ninety-two pubs closed in Clare between 2005 and 2021, almost a quarter of the total number, figures from the VFI show. Ennis publican Charlie O’Meara told the Champion, “After two difficult years of lockdown we really needed a bit of stability for a couple of years, just to get people back on track again. “Unfortunately that hasn’t happened, and over the last number of weeks we’re seeing serious pressure on pubs. The biggest thing is the energy costs, we’d be calling on the Government to give us some break in the budget. “It’d have been great to see a cap on electricity prices, but that’s not going to happen. Something like what they did in Covid, to give a waiver on rates, that’s something we’d be calling for.” Should backing not be forthcoming, more …

THE buzz was back on Saturday night with the return to normal pub and restaurant opening hours and the removal of a most pandemic restrictions for the first time in nearly two years.  “We went from a stroll straight into a marathon,” said Clare VFI Chairperson and Ennis publican Charlie O’Meara, “but it was great to be doing it. We found people were in earlier and there was a lull for an hour or two after 8pm. We didn’t expect that. People were in great form and glad to be out. I think the pattern will settle in a while.” Miltown publican David O’Brien, of Michael A’s, described the scenes as reminiscent of a St Stephen’s Night. “Nobody was talking about Covid for the first time in a long time,” he said. “It felt like things were nearly normal again. We know it’s not over, but there was a release for people.” There’s hope too that the staycation boost will …

THE Clare chair of the Vintner’s Federation of Ireland (VFI) has described the government’s plans to restrict indoor hospitality to vaccinated people only as “a total smokescreen”. Charlie O’Meara characterised the mood of the county’s 160 VFI members as one of “annoyance, anger and frustration” at news that indoor hospitality will not now resume until July 19, at the earliest, and that unvaccinated people may be banned. The Ennis publican said he now fears for what faces the trade this winter when government supports come to an end and vintners try to restart their businesses, without the benefit of the normal summer takings. “There has been absolutely terrible treatment of our members,” he told The Champion. “There’s been no respect whatsoever and the government would have been happy enough, once again, to leave this issue to the eleventh hour, but for the fact that the VFI in Dublin put pressure on them to make a decision. It’s just not good …