Meaningful support needed to save Donegal's cafes, pubs and restaurants

Meaningful support for restaurants, cafés and pubs  has been called for in towns where a significant portion of tourism accommodation is unavailable to visitors. 

“We are really up against it,” said Mairead Anderson, who along with her husband Garry, owns Anderson’s Boathouse Restaurant in Killybegs. Mairead and Garry both stress that their issue is absolutely not with the Ukrainian community. It is with how the situation is being handled, and the associated lack of communication on the part of the government. 

“If you are going to have your business reduced, of course it is going to have a big impact,” said Mairead.

Her comments follow the shock news that cafés, restaurants and pubs were being excluded from the government’s €10 million support fund. The fund is supposed to help businesses in areas where large numbers of rooms in local hotels and B&Bs are being used for humanitarian purposes. 

Mairead said: “We need to be able to have an honest conversation about this. I will never be the person standing with placards telling people that they are not welcome, because I understand this is a horrendous time for the world and there is a war on the outskirts of Europe from which families are fleeing and seeking refuge. This has never been my issue. I just think there should be an alternative to filling hotels.”

Killybegs is a town that has been particularly hard hit.

Chef Garry Anderson said: “This support fund is being given to activity centres but not to restaurants which I believe are much harder hit. People will travel to go kayaking for a day but they want to eat out near where they are staying so that they can have a few drinks.

“It is having a big impact on us, that people cannot stay in the town.”

Garry stresses that he believes the Ukrainian population is a beneficial addition to Donegal.

“I think the county needed a population boost to fill jobs,” he said. “There was a staff shortage in hospitality. 

“We have Ukrainians in our employment, we have absolutely no issue with them being here. We just need to do that in a way that is a healthy integration.”

It is not only the loss of the tourism economy that is having an impact. There are many reasons why people would need a hotel room in a town such as Killybegs, and would then want to eat out or have a few drinks near their accommodation. Funerals and family celebrations such as weddings, Confirmations, and First Communions would normally bring people to Donegal’s rural towns. 

Garry said: “We had a situation where someone travelled here for a wake in Carrick and the closest accommodation they could find was in Bundoran.”

Mairead adds: “There are a lot of workmen in Killybegs at the moment and they are commuting to and from hotels in Ballybofey five days a week.”

While disappointed that cafés, bars and restaurants were excluded from the €10 million fund, the Andersons would like to see specific support in place that would benefit their staff.

“Something like the Covid wage subsidy would be best,” said Garry. “We have had to cut hours for our staff. We don’t want to; we know that they have to live, but if the money is not coming in, it can’t go back out. 

“You add to that the massive electricity bills, all the costs of doing business at the moment; we are really up against it.”

Garry suggests an alternative to hotels that he believes would be in everyone’s interests, not least the displaced Ukrainian families who are currently living in hotel rooms.

“I would like to see Donegal County Council build big caravan parks for them,” he said.

“People are quite happy to spend €70,000 or €80,000 on a good mobile home and use it as a year round holiday home, so they are certainly good enough to live in.”

He believes that this would not only free up hotel rooms but would also give Ukrainian families a better quality of life.

“It would give them space to be a family, to begin a new life,” he said. “They would get to make decisions like what to feed their children, they would be able to cook their own food.

“Many of them have jobs and are part of society here. This would be a great start for them in building a life here.”

Mairead stresses that one of the biggest challenges is trying to have an open conversation without receiving a horrendous backlash.

“I love diversity, I love to see the lights on in buildings. We need to be able to talk about this and not be branded something that we are not. And we need the government to talk about it.”

Garry adds: “Even if there was a cap put on how much of a hotel could be used, that would be a good start and it would help the other businesses in a town.”

As part of Budget 2024, Tourism Minister Catherine Martin announced the €10 million fund to support downstream businesses in areas with high levels of tourism bed stock displacement as a result of the Government’s humanitarian efforts. 

However, since then, correspondence received by the Restaurant Association of Ireland from the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media has confirmed that only tourism activities and attractions businesses will be eligible for support.