Publicans warned they can’t take any more financial “blows” after price increases from Guinness brewer Diageo came into effect yesterday.
Hugh Hourican, who owns The Boar’s Head on Capel Street, Dublin, said he’s not charging more for a pint just yet but admitted he will have to increase it soon. He told Dublin Live: “We’re not happy about it at all. It’s hard to get customers in at the moment.
“It’s great people are back supporting us after the last three years but unfortunately all we can do is pass on the increase. It’s making our job harder, all our costs have gone up too like labour and power bills.
Read more: Publicans 'can't afford not to' pass on price hikes as Guinness could top €8
“We’re hoping this is the last blow. We expected it once Heineken upped their prices in December, hopefully, this is the last increase because we can’t take any more blows. We can’t absorb the costs on this occasion. We have done so over the years but we have to pass them on.
“The days of people just walking in for a pint are gone. You have to provide extra facilities and keep your pub updated. You have to have the proper TVs and channels. Publicans are paying up to €14,000 a year just to show sport.”
Diageo’s price hike came into effect yesterday just weeks after Heineken raised prices at the start of December. Many pubs across the capital have not yet passed on the increase to punters and will only do so when their current Guinness stock runs out with several bulk buying kegs after the announcement last month.
Diageo upped the cost of a pint by 12c excluding VAT with publicans reckoning they will need to hike the cost by at least 30c to keep their current profit margins. A pint of Guinness costs around €6 in most city centre bars before the increase.
Across the Liffey, Ha’Penny Bridge Inn owner Mick Ryan said the cost of everything has gone up and admitted revellers may stop going out as much. He added: “Every time you go to the supermarket everything has gone up.
“If you’ve a mortgage the interest has gone up, your car tax and insurance have gone up. Whichever fuel you’re putting into that car has gone up and you have all these bills to pay so something is going to have to be cut.
Read more: Dublin pubs: Jameson to open unique 'Early House' in the capital
“So if you have two or three pints after work a couple of nights a week, you might cut back. Everything is going up, no matter what you do it’s gone up. In here, our clientele would be a good mix of locals and tourists. But everything after the pandemic has been a hit.”
Mick explained he only made an order last week so will hold off upping his prices until he had to pay the new price for a keg. He added: “It would be a bit greedy if I bought the beer in at the old price and I started jacking it up on my regular customers who support me 52 weeks of the year.”
Ciaran Gilligan, manager of The Duke, said: “We’re not going to put up the prices yet until we get rid of all the stock that we bought in at the lower prices. Heineken got a lot of backlash when they put theirs up. The price of the pint will need to go up by at least 30c.
“Pubs are trying to keep prices competitive but it’s a business and there are rising energy costs, and the price of food has gone up.” Inesc Ramasawmy, who is the bar manager at O’Neills Pub and Restaurant on Suffolk Street, said the hike will negatively impact trade.
Diageo also makes Rockshore, Carlsberg, Harp, Hop House 13 and Smithwicks. Norman Moore, 75, who was drinking a pint of Guinness in John Keogh’s pub off Grafton Street, said the increased pint price was not going to stop him.
He added: “If I don’t get out of the house and have a few pints, I get isolated and it can cause depression. It’s a social thing for me. You meet people and I won’t let the price interfere with that because it’s too important, especially for a retired person.”
Read more: Dublin pubs: Full list of boozers sold for combined €51.5 million last year
Aussie Euan Hart, a barman at The Gin Palace, said he is going to be more selective about where he goes out now in Dublin that the cost has increased. Euan added: “I don’t think I’ll go to certain pubs as much as I used to or bring people to places I used to go.
“A night out is a little bit different and you don’t mind spending a bit more but if I’m going for a few pints I’m going to be more selective. The Gin Palace where I work hasn’t increased their prices yet.”
The Grand Social barman Arron O’Shaughnessy reckons the cost increase will result in more home drinking. He said: “People were complaining before the prices went up about how expensive a night out is. The little bit of reprieve bars got when they opened back up after the pandemic is gone.”
A Diageo spokesperson previously said: “Like many businesses in Ireland, we are facing significant inflation in input costs across our operations. We have absorbed these costs for as long as possible. But, unfortunately, we can no longer continue to do so. As a result, we have written to our customers in the on-trade to advise them of an increase on our draught beer list prices of 12 cent per pint.”
Read next:
Finglas assault investigation update as gardai looking to speak to taxi driver
Former Ashtown homeless camp resident speaks out after horror attack
Sportsman and garda arrested as part of corruption investigation
Irish households entitled to €50 refund after ESB overcharged them for 12 years
Man charged in connection with alleged dangerous driving incident at Dublin protest
Sign up to the Dublin Live Newsletter to get all the latest Dublin news straight to your inbox.
