Level 3 restrictions hits pubs and eateries hard

When Fergus Murphy entered the Derragarra for work on Tuesday morning he had an unenviable task.

“A new member of staff was meant to start today, unfortunately I had to ring him and say, ‘Look, don’t come in’,” he tells the Celt.

With the whole Republic ratcheted up to ‘Level 3’ as of midnight Tuesday, the proprietor of the Butlersbridge eatery has to revise staffing levels and make many more difficult phonecalls. Since he reopened on June 29, he had taken on extra staff to deal with demand, and make compliance with guidelines easier. It’s a different story now. Between front of house and team of chefs, he has 26 on his books and expects to let the vast majority go. Fergus voices the possibility of keeping on six with the proviso that the Derragarra’s, as yet untried takeaway service is a success: “If it’s not successful, I’ll have to call an end to that as well,” he laments.

He was stung with stock bought in for St Patrick’s Day ahead of the first lockdown.

“That was a couple of thousand worth of stock and that all went in the bin. Country-wide no supplier would take it back.”

Fergus, like other restaurants, was looking forward to the Christmas boost to help reduce losses incurred during the fullscale lockdown. He fears, that looks like “a non-runner”.

“You’re corporate business is going to be shattered, so you are going to be looking at small tables, if you’re lucky – if you’re open!

“January and February is going to be a real teller - who’s going to be left standing,” he says.

Fergus accepts that, with the rising numbers of cases, “something had to be done”. He also reflects that at least it wasn’t Level 5, as had been threatened. He adds: “We’ve been through worse – the fire [in April 2016] was worse than this – as long as you get the local support, you’ll get by.”

Like Fergus, a “devastated” Mickey Mooney of the Slieve Rossa had done everything that had been asked of him. “We’re closed down, realistically it’s through no fault of our own.”

He accepted that the rising numbers warranted some action. “NPHET is there to give advice and we just have to accept it. It’s not easy to accept, Christmas is around the corner, a lot of bills are coming in. It’s going to be bleak few weeks.”

The Celt is almost embarrassed to raise the prospect of them adhering to the Level Three requirements serving only a restricted number of customers outside.

“No,” he instantly replies. “It’s not a goer. We’re not exactly Spain. If you had tropical weather, you’d have no bother serving 15 people outside but you’re not going to start handing around the blankets for 15 people.”

The Slieve Rossa is not alone in facing the problem: “It’s not viable for 99% of the people,” Mickey says.