Almost 2000 pubs closed since 2005

[snoopdog]

In no particular order:

1. Smoking ban.
2. Drink driving ban.
3. Disparity of pricing between on trade and off trade.
4. Cost of insurance
5. Cost of musical entertainment.
6. Health campaigns and health awareness.
7. Subsequent generations endeavouring not be like their alcoholic fathers.
8. Rising costs of living
9. People preferring to go on holidays
10. Drugs, tied into on-trade pricing, providing an alternative night out.
11. Drugs, leading to rowdier and louder drinking environments.
12. Commercialisation of pubs / super pubs wiping out competition.
13. Relaxation of opening hours, creating a longer working week for the same money.
14.  Satellite TV, computer games, etc providing alternative entertainment.
15. The unfashionable costs of satellite TV for pubs. And almost every pub must engage.
16. Diageo (and other manufacturers) being run by accountants whose solution to every problem is to increase the price of draught beer.
17. The service industry providing so many more career opportunities for what once were natural publicans.
18. For a long time too much competition. I'm not sure when it was that Ireland exploded from a pub in every village to a street of pubs in every village. But it happened and it was too many.

Add in when you get above 35 the 3 day hangover isn't worth it.

Price is q massive factor. Who is gonna go down tge local for 3 pints at over 18 euro. You could have 3 cans at home for 6 euro.
Price of housing is massive. Mortgage payments and kids activities come first.

[naka]

In no particular order:

1. Smoking ban.
2. Drink driving ban.
3. Disparity of pricing between on trade and off trade.
4. Cost of insurance
5. Cost of musical entertainment.
6. Health campaigns and health awareness.
7. Subsequent generations endeavouring not be like their alcoholic fathers.
8. Rising costs of living
9. People preferring to go on holidays
10. Drugs, tied into on-trade pricing, providing an alternative night out.
11. Drugs, leading to rowdier and louder drinking environments.
12. Commercialisation of pubs / super pubs wiping out competition.
13. Relaxation of opening hours, creating a longer working week for the same money.
14.  Satellite TV, computer games, etc providing alternative entertainment.
15. The unfashionable costs of satellite TV for pubs. And almost every pub must engage.
16. Diageo (and other manufacturers) being run by accountants whose solution to every problem is to increase the price of draught beer.
17. The service industry providing so many more career opportunities for what once were natural publicans.
18. For a long time too much competition. I'm not sure when it was that Ireland exploded from a pub in every village to a street of pubs in every village. But it happened and it was too many.

Kinda agree but also think more people are spending off time in gym , cycling , swimming etc
Keeping fit is the new social life

[manfromdelmonte]

People driving a lot further for work too.
Don't have time to go to the pub

[RedHand88]

In no particular order:

1. Smoking ban.
2. Drink driving ban.
3. Disparity of pricing between on trade and off trade.
4. Cost of insurance
5. Cost of musical entertainment.
6. Health campaigns and health awareness.
7. Subsequent generations endeavouring not be like their alcoholic fathers.
8. Rising costs of living
9. People preferring to go on holidays
10. Drugs, tied into on-trade pricing, providing an alternative night out.
11. Drugs, leading to rowdier and louder drinking environments.
12. Commercialisation of pubs / super pubs wiping out competition.
13. Relaxation of opening hours, creating a longer working week for the same money.
14.  Satellite TV, computer games, etc providing alternative entertainment.
15. The unfashionable costs of satellite TV for pubs. And almost every pub must engage.
16. Diageo (and other manufacturers) being run by accountants whose solution to every problem is to increase the price of draught beer.
17. The service industry providing so many more career opportunities for what once were natural publicans.
18. For a long time too much competition. I'm not sure when it was that Ireland exploded from a pub in every village to a street of pubs in every village. But it happened and it was too many.

Kinda agree but also think more people are spending off time in gym , cycling , swimming etc
Keeping fit is the new social life

This is true. Less and less people are connecting in the pub and are connecting via Strava and the like instead. Drinking a few times a week isn't really a thing anymore for alot of people.

[JoG2]

Post Covid it's hard to get a taxi home after a night out, puts alot of people off heading into towns / cities for a night out.

[NAG1]

Post Covid it's hard to get a taxi home after a night out, puts alot of people off heading into towns / cities for a night out.

Post Covid and COL crisis, the choice between a night out spending a pile of money on taxis etc or a takeaway and few house drinks the latter seems to be winning.

Habits have definitely changed post covid.

[Cavan19]

Post Covid it's hard to get a taxi home after a night out, puts alot of people off heading into towns / cities for a night out.

It's a big problem i know lots who don't bother going out now unless they have a lift arranged to get them home.

[thewobbler]

Covid should have been on the list. It's up there with the smoking ban in the straw-that-broke-the camel's-back stakes. Both things led regular pub goers to assess why they spend such a hefty percentage of their disposable income in the pub, and many just changed up their habits.

Re fitness and strava etc, honestly I think this is a trivial enough factor. I did a hefty (by my standards) amount of research into this in 2015 when trying to convince a committee to change their pricing strategy for our social club. The evidence then was that 2007-08 was a blip in Irish society, and economists reckoned we were so rich we were buying drink almost just to throw it out. And that Irish people were drinking more than they ever had, apart from the tiger anomaly years. The other key learning was that around 2014, was the first year that the UK had witnessed higher sales by volume of take home beer than draught beer. Much as we are different, we are sometimes very similar to the UK and I'd expect the same story has unfolded here.

[johnnycool]

Lets not kid ourselves, a lot of our parents generation (and quite a few my generation in their younger days) thought nothing of having a load of scoops and jumping behind the wheel of a car.

I don't hear so much of that in the younger generation of a social age now.

[seafoid]

There has been a generational shift too. Pub drinkers aged 20-35 have mostly not been replaced. Might be linked to disposable income.

[Milltown Row2]

Drinking is becoming a bit like smoking, its not normal to go to the pub every night or even once a week, coffee bars (I don't drink it) cafe's and the likes becoming more popular and that should be a good thing as we drink way too much, if anyone has teenage kids or adult kids will know, when they are on one and you are picking up the pieces its not nice.

Pubs closing is not a bad thing, and this is from someone that loves a good session, but its not good for your health in any shape or form, I've cut down massively on weekend drinking, no weeknight drinking.

Being over in England more now you notice more that the pub means more to the locals

That said I'm off to Donegal tomorrow for the weekend 

[clonian]

Drinking is becoming a bit like smoking, its not normal to go to the pub every night or even once a week, coffee bars (I don't drink it) cafe's and the likes becoming more popular and that should be a good thing as we drink way too much, if anyone has teenage kids or adult kids will know, when they are on one and you are picking up the pieces its not nice.

Pubs closing is not a bad thing, and this is from someone that loves a good session, but its not good for your health in any shape or form, I've cut down massively on weekend drinking, no weeknight drinking.

Being over in England more now you notice more that the pub means more to the locals

That said I'm off to Donegal tomorrow for the weekend 

Most village pubs in England are very different to local bars here though, there's possibly one or 2 in an area - not 15 down one street. Open outside sitting areas, better weather to sit outside and have a drink. More child friendly etc. They're usually within walking distance of the village where most people live - our population spread doesn't make that easy in the countryside.

A lot of the pubs that have closed through the country were old fashioned old man bars and they never really moved with the times. That's my experience here in south Down - maybe other areas are different.

[theticklemister]

Drinking is becoming a bit like smoking, its not normal to go to the pub every night or even once a week, coffee bars (I don't drink it) cafe's and the likes becoming more popular and that should be a good thing as we drink way too much, if anyone has teenage kids or adult kids will know, when they are on one and you are picking up the pieces its not nice.

Pubs closing is not a bad thing, and this is from someone that loves a good session, but its not good for your health in any shape or form, I've cut down massively on weekend drinking, no weeknight drinking.

Being over in England more now you notice more that the pub means more to the locals

That said I'm off to Donegal tomorrow for the weekend 

Most village pubs in England are very different to local bars here though, there's possibly one or 2 in an area - not 15 down one street. Open outside sitting areas, better weather to sit outside and have a drink. More child friendly etc. They're usually within walking distance of the village where most people live - our population spread doesn't make that easy in the countryside.

A lot of the pubs that have closed through the country were old fashioned old man bars and they never really moved with the times. That's my experience here in south Down - maybe other areas are different.

A lot of pubs here too are all owned by chains like embers inn and Greene king. They have more money  to keep more open. They are crap but. No individuality and all look the same; not like a proper old bar back home. God I miss those pubs; with the old decor and a big hearth.

As you said, more family oriented over here with nearly every bar doing food. Just thinking, you wouldn't even sit at the bar in any of these bars in England. Not very welcoming for doing this.

[seafoid]

Drinking is becoming a bit like smoking, its not normal to go to the pub every night or even once a week, coffee bars (I don't drink it) cafe's and the likes becoming more popular and that should be a good thing as we drink way too much, if anyone has teenage kids or adult kids will know, when they are on one and you are picking up the pieces its not nice.

Pubs closing is not a bad thing, and this is from someone that loves a good session, but its not good for your health in any shape or form, I've cut down massively on weekend drinking, no weeknight drinking.

Being over in England more now you notice more that the pub means more to the locals

That said I'm off to Donegal tomorrow for the weekend 

Most village pubs in England are very different to local bars here though, there's possibly one or 2 in an area - not 15 down one street. Open outside sitting areas, better weather to sit outside and have a drink. More child friendly etc. They're usually within walking distance of the village where most people live - our population spread doesn't make that easy in the countryside.

A lot of the pubs that have closed through the country were old fashioned old man bars and they never really moved with the times. That's my experience here in south Down - maybe other areas are different.

I think that's because there was very little investment in rural pubs in the previous 30 years due to low margins. The collapse built up over time.

[general_lee]

There's a couple of old man bars near me, they're rural and fairly out of the way but the farmers still enjoy a drink and keep them going. Ironically there's been a couple in town that have struggled or closed.