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Portrait of the man enjoying a pint in his local in 1999 Leon Farrell/Photocall Ireland/archive

Lisa McInerney Time might be up for the rural pub - but I'll miss it

Changing consumption habits – driven by economics or social change – are shutting our locals. Should we care?

I WAS OUT the other night.

If you’re Irish, and you probably are, you’ll know there are different levels to going out in our fair land.

There’s ‘out’, where you pop along to the local hostelry for an alcoholic beverage and a game of pool on a listing table, and there’s ‘out out’, where you do exactly the same thing, only with make-up/’good shoes’ on. It was the latter for me.

A disclaimer: I’m from rural Ireland. So when I talk about ‘going out’, assume it’s to a small pub, the kind where everybody knows your name (or at least your father’s name) and where the jukebox  provides a generous choice between The Wolfe Tones and Metallica. While our urban cousins may have an array of artisan pubs, snazzy clubs and hipster hangouts to choose from, those of us left down the country have little in the way of options. To head out for the night may mean to the same establishment your parents frequented, and with the alternative being more along the lines of ‘Father Reilly’s Saturday night vigil’ than ‘bowling and a movie’, you see how important one’s small town local may be.

To state the obvious, Ireland has a drinking culture. We’re not unique in that sense, but even today our propensity for ceol agus craic defines us on the world stage. Many of us were brought up in the lounges of our locals, fed on packs of King or Tayto and purple snacks and bottles of Club Orange with four straws wedged in to sate as many siblings.

Pub culture of the 1970s and ’80s

There was a certain smell to the local, too. Not the one you’re smirking about, not the collective bowel complaints of every farmer in a fifteen-mile radius, but a kind of warm, fizzy smell (again, not the farmers), a kind of potent whack of hops and dregs, KP peanuts, Pledge and fraying upholstery. I remember walking past one of the pubs in Cork a couple of years back and being taken aback by that old smell, something of my childhood that I’d quite forgotten. However far we’ve come now – or however we’ve regressed – the pub culture of the ’80s and ’90s was something worth remembering.

Back to my recent night out. We made for one of the old haunts with the expectation of a few scoops, a few games of pool, and a few rounds of A Nation Once Again/Enter Sandman.

The place was practically empty. Not only was it lacking in customers; it was lacking in fundamentals. One of the fridges behind the bar was empty and switched off, the toilets had no seats, the selection of drinks was meagre, and all in all the place gave off more a stench of grave recession than that wonderful, weird aroma of old.

My town used to have about fifteen licensed establishments, including two nightclubs; this for a community with barely three thousand inhabitants and a hinterland as dotted with drinking establishments as any other. I remember nights out planned with meticulous starting times so as to ensure a decent seat in the bar, pubs crammed with a mix of revellers, served by busy staff in a great atmosphere. The number of licensed establishment in my town has dipped dramatically, and none have come near replacing that turn-of-the-Millennium buzz.

Any country mouse keen on socialising will have noticed the same trend over the past few years or so. The Irish aren’t heading out like they used to. The publicans can’t afford the upkeep of their establishments, feeling the pinch as any small business would, but with the added challenges inherent in running a pub – licence, extensions, sports broadcasting, long hours, security… Our local pubs, in short, are dying.

The loss of our locals might seem a fair trade

We could hypothesise that that’s a symptom of the cure, not of the disease. After all, we drink too much. Though we drink less often than our European neighbours, we drink more units when we do indulge, and at a quicker pace, too. Drinkaware.ie reports that we’re drinking less than we were at the height of the boom, to which there’s really no mystery, and if that comes at a cost to our social landscape, it’s undeniably good for our physical wellbeing. The loss of our locals might seem a fair trade.

Alcohol was once thought of as a tongue-loosener for the real meat of the evening – the conversation. Now our focus is on getting value for money, being lathered well before we hit the town, and hobbling our VISA debits buying trays of shots no one wants. The pubs are empty because people are convinced inebriants shouldn’t cost them, that ten beers at home are better than four beers on the town, that it’s not worth leaving for a public house until an unquenchable thirst for Baby Guinness swoops upon those gathered.

The trend towards purchasing value alcohol to imbibe in a private setting isn’t essentially negative, although there’s plenty of room for abuse when alcohol is made so very cheap, something the Vintners Federation is keen to check. Meanwhile, HSE research suggests that we don’t drink as many units when we’re not in a pub or nightclub. The time limits imposed by our licensing laws must surely have played their part; blaming cheap supermarket alcohol makes sense, but only alongside the existing rigidity of our laws.

Now, it’s not just budding misanthropes who prefer getting gently sozzled in the company of his or her close friends, being able to smoke without getting rained on, and not being hounded by amorous louts or cleaned out by desperate vintners.

Dusty shells

Maybe we don’t need the pubs anymore. Ireland’s changing in so many ways, and largely for the better. Public houses, once the focal point for rural communities, have become dusty shells fit only for hosting people too drunk to notice the lack of lime/ice/soap/Metallica.

All the same, there is something very special about the Irish social landscape, and though time and tide waits for no… uh, publican, it seems rather a shame to lose something so integral to our identity.

Any great number of factors might be responsible: the public’s perception of vintners’ greed, changing attitudes towards drinking, the recession, the availability of cheaper options, an Irish population for once in its history more interested in maintaining private group friendships than community structure.

It’s too far gone for us to get it back, even with due regard for small business, the craic, and our livers.

I miss it, though. I’d say we all do.

Lisa McInerney: Pornification of teen sexuality – but we can’t just blame porn>

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31 Comments
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    Mute helixjo1
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    Sep 1st 2015, 5:02 PM

    Lived in Vancouver for a year. Everyone told me that Chinese millionaires were buying up the property market.

    Sounded like bubble, looked like a bubble, no one believed it was a bubble.

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    Mute VoiceOfVanguard
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    Sep 1st 2015, 6:43 PM

    ..but hang on, we’re told the more immigration the better for the economy.

    yet countries who want a points-based immigration system – like Canada – are racist. like Ukip.

    where now for the neo-liberals?

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    Mute Niall Donnelly
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    Sep 1st 2015, 4:46 PM

    Welcome to the club!!!! Australia has also just joined.

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    Mute little jim
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    Sep 1st 2015, 5:12 PM

    Wait a minute, where else have we been slipping off to.

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    Mute Darren Norris
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    Sep 1st 2015, 5:28 PM

    Australia is not in recession.

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    Mute Niall Donnelly
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    Sep 1st 2015, 5:32 PM
    52
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    Mute Darren Norris
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    Sep 1st 2015, 5:34 PM

    That is a comment piece asking is it sliding into recession…it is still growing, just very slowly but still faster than most of Europe.

    http://www.businessinsider.com.au/most-forecasters-are-now-betting-australian-gdp-grew-0-5-last-quarter-2015-9

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    Mute Cian O Donoghue
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    Sep 1st 2015, 7:16 PM

    The clue is in the title Niall. It’s asking is Oz in recession. It’s an opinion piece.

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    Mute Emmet
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    Sep 1st 2015, 11:06 PM

    Australia is slowing down a bit but deffinately not in recession

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    Mute Tweed Cap
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    Sep 1st 2015, 4:51 PM

    The whole world will be growing their own spuds soon lads

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    Mute Íurach
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    Sep 1st 2015, 9:04 PM

    That’s not even a joke, I’d urge people to buy food in advance. Things are going to be worse than 2008.

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    Mute Christopher Byrne
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    Sep 1st 2015, 4:54 PM

    You have the trifecta with Oil, Iron ore prices in the shit and China on the skids here in Aus. House prices have been bananas for the last 4 years. Just no value in buying here. Massive property bubble waiting to pop. Interesting times ahead

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    Mute David G
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    Sep 1st 2015, 5:10 PM

    Not the mention the price of potash is falling badly. Canada is one of largest producers.

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    Mute offtheball
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    Sep 1st 2015, 4:47 PM

    Let’s blame our Gov for that as well.

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    Mute paul farrell
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    Sep 1st 2015, 5:15 PM

    Didn’t enda and co visit Canada recently , they left the recession disease behind them..

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    Mute Spammer
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    Sep 1st 2015, 6:44 PM

    Both Canada and Australia are in trouble. China the main buyer of their commodities in heading for recession and will take them with it….

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    Mute The Guru
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    Sep 1st 2015, 11:16 PM

    China is nowhere near recession! At the very worst it will be at 4% growth.

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    Mute The Guru
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    Sep 2nd 2015, 2:30 AM

    Red thumbs I see. People seriously need to educate themselves as to what a recession is. China is growing at 7% per annum down from 10%. Some say it’s more likely around 5%. Nobody is saying it’s in recession or is anywhere near it apart from commenters on the Journal who haven’t a clue.

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    Mute Dave Tett
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    Sep 1st 2015, 5:05 PM

    I work in the mortgage industry in Toronto. Canada has much better safeguards for lending then Ireland and U.S. Did in 2008. Property market is not gonna collapse anytime soon.

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    Mute James Comerford
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    Sep 1st 2015, 5:15 PM

    But surely you would say that, no ?

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    Mute Dave Tett
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    Sep 1st 2015, 5:18 PM

    Haha fair point but inaccurate in this sense. It’s the U.S. Shorting Canadian lender shares which is why they are worrying

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    Mute Patrick J O'CONNOR
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    Sep 1st 2015, 6:29 PM

    @Dave Tett…. But is there not an Ontario Co.making bare-bones houses for about $24.000 now; and what will this do to the mortgage ind. and also to the housing mkt?
    I may be in the market for one such bare-boneser so any reliable info appreciated.

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    Mute Ronan McDermott
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    Sep 1st 2015, 6:54 PM

    It might in Calgary

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    Mute Robert Tallent
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    Sep 1st 2015, 7:19 PM

    Houses in Calgary are vastly more affordable vs average incomes than they are in Toronto. The Calgary market isn’t nearly as bloated as Vancouver or Toronto.

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    Mute Ronan McDermott
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    Sep 1st 2015, 8:47 PM

    Yes but Alberta has been propping things up for Canada. Not any more . If it falls here will have a domino effect. Plus wait till the ndp wins the next election. Spend spend spend. But your views are none of my concern. You guys are working in the mortgage industry. You know it all. Pfft

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    Mute Ronan McDermott
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    Sep 1st 2015, 5:56 PM

    Canada has been in recession since last November.

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    Mute Caoimhghín Ó Tuama
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    Sep 1st 2015, 9:22 PM

    Lived in Toronto and Alberta for a couple of years. Outside of Alberta (struggling now because of Oil) Canada has been far from rosy for the last few years. The job market for grads in Ontario has been very rough, with many heading out to Alberta to get jobs. Distance wise, that’s about Poland to Ireland, so while it’s the same country it’s still economic migration. There’s even more migration again from the maritime provinces where employment prospects are fairly poor, and some of the poverty in indigenous areas is second world stuff.

    Great county and great cities, but don’t go over expecting Ireland 2006 or you’ll get a bad land.

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    Mute Tara
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    Sep 2nd 2015, 2:45 AM

    I’m going over in two weeks. Ireland has a big dark cloud over it in general, I’m sure I’ll be happier over there in recession than in this small town going absolutely nowhere. Slightly worried though!!

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    Mute Padraic Quinn
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    Sep 2nd 2015, 6:04 AM

    go to vancouver and you won’t have anything to worry about.

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    Mute Myself
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    Sep 2nd 2015, 5:05 AM

    Living here in Edmonton Alberta for 4 years now, there is a slow down but it will be nothing like it was back home in 2008, i work as an electrician and there is still plenty of work around the city, oil fields have slowed down but it just leaves employers in a better position to select the better quality worker. I do a lot of side work and I’ve never been busier. They talk about recession here but they know nothing about one, all it means is now you have a manageable amount of work.

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    Mute Michael Sands
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    Sep 1st 2015, 6:44 PM

    21 / 22 September, see what that brings globally?

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    Mute Michael Sands
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    Sep 1st 2015, 7:15 PM

    Some U.S. Bill is being purpose to build a wall on the boarder with Canada? Then others want on with Mexico, are they mad?

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    Mute graham galvin
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    Sep 1st 2015, 7:23 PM

    That kind of goes against NAFTA does it not?

    9
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    Mute Keelan O'neill
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    Sep 1st 2015, 7:57 PM

    That’s an idea from Republican Scott Walker. He won’t get within a donkey’s roar of the White House.

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    Mute gary kelly
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    Sep 2nd 2015, 2:36 PM

    Lived in canada for few years.outside alberta economies aren’t all that good. Low wages high rent etc and not particularly nice looking cities in any way. There’s a very good reason why alberta pays well. Because of the 8 month winters and it’s an absolute hellhole. Was only matter of time before they slipped into recession. Alberta = oil and gas and nothing else

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    Mute Vaughn Bender
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    Sep 2nd 2015, 7:24 PM

    First of all Canada is NOT in a recession, sheesh! Please check the facts, here is link from Canadian bank the details of this so called “Resession” http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/video/video-scotia-this-is-no-recession/article26175445/

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