Media Coverage – November 2023

‘Almost 50 food businesses closed this month as costs rise and demand falls’

Nearly 50 restaurants, cafés and other food-led businesses were forced to close in November, according to the Restaurants Association of Ireland (RAI). The RAI said the food services industry continues to grapple with a “perfect storm” of increased costs and reduced consumer demand as 188 businesses have now closed their doors since July.

‘Deeply unfair’ – Cafes and restaurants left out of €10m plan to offset tourist displacement from refugee accommodation

The decision to exclude hospitality businesses has been sharply criticised by Adrian Cummins, RAI CEO, who called for a reversal of the policy. He said it was “deeply unfair for restaurants and cafes who are excluded from the grant aid scheme”.

‘Restaurants Association concerned over drop of tourists coming to Ireland’

The Restaurants Association of Ireland says there’s been a drop of almost a third in the number of international visitors to these shores. CSO tourism figures show the number of visitors dropped from 737,600 in August to 582,100 in September.

‘Dublin is safe’ – People urged to come into city centre this Christmas’

Restaurants Association CEO Adrian Cummins told the show that the industry is already facing difficult times. He said the increased VAT rate from September is coupled with an increased minimum wage coming in January. “We can see that the consumer is pulling back in terms of the number of times that they’re going out to eat,” he said. “Then, to crown it all, last Thursday was a devastating day for business and hospitality in Dublin and we’re trying to recover from that.