More than 600 food operations have shut up shop in the past 12 months alone and while restaurants rarely go out of business because they’re making too much money, there persists a widespread belief among many consumers that they’re being gouged and forced to pay through the nose because of the greed of those working in hospitality. It is hard not to have sympathy for all concerned – the businesses that can’t make a buck and the punters who can’t afford to spend one – but the story is as layered as it is complicated. Hotel and restaurant prices have risen by 3.
9 per cent over the past 12 months – the highest increase among goods and services consumed by Irish people in that time, according to data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO). Owners say such increases are hardly a surprise in the face of an enduring energy crisis, the reinstatement of the 13.5 per cent VAT rate for hospitality businesses, and the rise in costs of labour and raw materials.
And as if all that wasn’t bad enough, many in the sector fear things are likely to get worse, with further increases in the weeks leading up to Christmas. There are multiple angles from which to view the challenging and depressing world of Irish hospitality today. Eithne McManus is from Tipperary but lives in Dublin.
For her parents’ 60th wedding anniversary, her extended family booked a weekend’s worth of hotel accommodation in Galway. “My mum loves Salthill and loves Galway,” she says. “We just booked .