Government failure to support hospitality sector slammed as award winning Longford restaurant set to close

A Granard business that is being forced to close due to rising costs says the government has failed to support small businesses and have contributed to difficult trading conditions in the hospitality sector.

After over a year and a half in business, The Bailey Café in Granard has taken the difficult decision to close their doors in the face of escalating costs.

This Saturday, February 24, the popular restaurant closes its doors for the last time. After working six days a week for the last 19 months Annmarie McKenna built up a strong customer base, but rising costs have forced her out of business.

“I am working to pay Revenue. I am not getting a wage out of it.”

Annmarie continued, “It's just getting harder and harder to survive. You can only increase your prices so much, or people will stop coming in. I just had to do something.

“My debt to Revenue is still growing. I had no other choice. I just can't keep going. I've tried everything.”

Located adjacent to Knights & Conquests Heritage Centre at Rathcronan in Granard, The Bailey Café proved to be very popular with locals and visitors alike. They serve tasty home cooked breakfasts, dinners and daily lunch specials.

The business owner said although the cafe was well supported the numbers were just not adding up. “I built up a good customer base. I have customers who come in every day, but they are finding it hard as well. We had customers who came in every day, now only coming in twice a week. I was working six days a week. I had so much more to give, but it's starting to affect my health.”

Annemarie says the cost of living crisis is worsened by government decisions. The rate of Irish VAT which applies to certain goods and services, mainly in the tourism and hospitality sector, increased from 9% back to 13.5%, since September 1, 2023.

On top of this the national minimum hourly rate became €12.70 on January 1, 2024. The irony is that many small business owners find themselves in a position where they no longer make enough profit to reach the minimum wage for themselves.

Every householder is aware of spiralling costs, but for small businesses this is even more impactful. “I got four heads of broccoli last week, it cost me €10. A box of chips increased by €5 in one year. Dairy products have increased by 25%. Electricity is bananas. I just can't continue to make the business work in the face of constant increases.”

Annemarie thanked all involved with the Knights & Conquests Heritage Centre for their support through her difficulties. 

“The committee has been very good to me. They are very approachable and have tried to help out, but once that VAT increase came in I could no longer make this work. I was already struggling, but it made it harder.”

Since opening The Bailey Café has had many successes. 

They won a number of Irish Restaurant awards, hosted the Tralee Roses on tour and have been a venue for the Granard Booktown Festival.

The decision to close has been a tough one. 

“I had a great staff behind me, a great team. I was speaking to another business person who had to close their premises in similar circumstances recently, they said 'we haven't failed, the government has failed us'. That has stuck in my head since,” Annemarie concluded.