£10m for wet pubs forced to close during summer

by Michael McHugh, PA

Closed pubs which do not serve food will receive more than £10 million support for the lost summer months, Northern Ireland’s Economy Minster said.

Traditional bars which only pour alcohol were required to remain shut for longer than other businesses as pandemic restrictions eased during the summer.

The £10.6 million covers the period of July to September when the rest of hospitality was allowed to open.

Diane Dodds said: “Our hospitality industry has been hugely impacted as a result of Covid health regulations and amongst those hardest hit are those traditional pubs only serving alcohol.

“These establishments have been required to remain closed for longer than other businesses and been unable to trade.”

Rollout of the scheme will commence during the week beginning January 11, the minister added.

Qualifying wet pubs will be identified by the Department from a list of recipients of the Localised Restrictions Support Scheme provided by Land and Property Services.

Businesses will be asked to supply supporting information to ensure all recipients are correctly identified and minimise the risk of fraud and error.

Once applications are verified payments will be made as soon as possible thereafter, the minister said.

Colin Neill, chief executive of Hospitality Ulster, said: “The harsh reality is that since March last year, non-food traditional pubs have only been able to open for 23 out of a total of a potential 290 trading days and under severe restrictions at that.

“Those that have been able to survive this far have been lucky, many will never open their doors again.”

He said the funding will offset debt accumulated over the months of closure.

“The cost of having the doors shut, no trade, but still having to keep businesses alive has had such a negative financial impact on owners.”