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IRELAND’S FIRST JD WETHERSPOON pub has officially opened its doors and locals in Blackrock, Co Dublin have already been trying it out.
The Three Tun Tavern had its first customers this morning, about seven months after it was announced that the 800 outlet British pub chain was entering the Irish market.
The former Tonic Bar is the first of Wetherspoon’s Irish branches, employing 60 people, with the discount pub chain also planning to open a premises in Cork city.
Josh Powell who lives nearby was one of the first to try out the Three Tun Tavern this morning, getting a full-Irish breakfast and a pint of lager for €9.
Powell is from England but moved to Ireland three years ago and says that the pub is much nicer than many of those he’s used to in the UK, adding that he has no complaints from his first visit.
“This one is a lot different,” he said. “It’s a lot nicer and obviously it’s newer so it’s really clean. The decor is much nicer and it’s not as plain and white as some in England. The staff were lovely as well so they’ve definitely done a good job on it.”
“It was busy, there were a lot of people in suits actually checking their emails, so they must have wi-fi,” he added.
Wetherspoon’s move to Ireland received a mixed reaction when it was announced, with some pointing out that local Irish pubs are an important tradition and source of employment and should be protected from larger chains.
A number of Facebook campaigns were launched against Wetherspoon’s decision and there was also questions asked recently when the company confirmed they will not be serving Guinness in their Irish bars.
“I understand that there is a difference over here,” says Powell. “I’m quite used to the chain pubs because there’s many chains in the UK and Wetherspoon’s wouldn’t have the best reputation among them.”
“The price of a pint is so expensive here, anyone who serves a pint for under €5 is going to get business here,” he says.
There has been much speculation about where Wetherspoon’s next acquisition in Ireland will be.
The company confirmed last week that they will not be buying well-known Dublin pubs Café en Seine, The George, The Dragon and Howl At The Moon as had been suggested by some media reports.
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€3m is nothing, you couldn’t even pay off the Sligo county manager with that.
I wouldn’t say no to it ;)
So let me get this straight, banks are lending to agriculture and property development, one sector that is inherently inefficient and can get pretty much all of the grants by stamping their foot m, the other landed us in a mahoosive mess, with loans still outstanding to the tune of billions.
Banks aren’t lending to R+D – the one area we know we can do quite well in, because we’re already doing quite well in it.
People still wonder how a) we got into this mess, and b) we are still in it. This country is amazing.
A. Maze. Ing.
I agree that is a bad figure but the reality is Ireland has never been great at R & D. I don’t know where R&D money comes from elsewhere but it is a very risky low return business and I doubt bank loans are the way to go.
Which came first, the chicken or the egg? Check out the story of stripe, and ask yourself why they had to move to the US.
I am co-founder of a hi-tech SME. We’ve raised almost €1m from VCs and have contracts of approx €1m with some of the world’s biggest companies ( all exports). The lowest qualification in the company is an M.Sc. We were refused company credit cards until our CEO gave personal guarantees and we now have limits on the cc’s of €140. That’s the banks in Ireland. But glad 2 hear the property developers can get cash. That’s a lovely stable industry.
And people wonder why my company does ALL its banking and lending outside the republic!
Insanity is repeating the same thing over and over and expecting different results. It’s evident that the banks are hoping for a return to the anomaly that was the property bubble.Try again, it’s not going to happen
3 Mil? How much did “Fingers” walk with ? Remind me again ?
The minister for small firms has small pockets.
Of course, those are the traditional “safe as houses” sectors of the Irish economy. Just think about the qualifications for being a banker in Ireland – have you ever seen such a shower of smug gits?
This blog makes me realize the energy of words and pictures. As always your things are just gorgeous and I am grateful that you let us look in! Keep coming up with ideas.
Small Business Loan
We are a sme with a patent product that we are Bringing to the Irish market .We have been refused credit from the banks as they need personal guarantees so we told them that we have no problem signing personal but we have no assets they still would not give us credit .We went to dublin city enterprises board and got approved for the 10 thousand euro feasibility grant we spent 24 thousand euro and now they have told us we are only getting 5650 euro as we did not employ an out side company to do our market research what a joke spend 24.000 and get 5650 . There is no help for sme in this country it’s a big joke !!!!
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