ONE of West Cork’s best-known eateries – O’Connor’s Seafood in Bantry – is the latest restaurant to announce its closure.
Shane Spillane said Saturday September 21st will be his last day trading in Bantry. He is actively looking for a new location for a new iteration of his business but they have been unsuccessful in finding a suitable venue, size-wise, in Bantry. But Bantry’s loss could be another town’s gain.
‘The business is successful. It is performing well,’ said Shane. ‘But high costs (including leasing) means it is not viable to continue trading here as O’Connor’s Café and Seafood Restaurant.’
The news has been met with shock and disappointment amongst his regular customers. Meanwhile, approximately half of his 21 employees are planning to travel to work at the new venue.
The majority of these will be Shane’s full-time workers, but the search for a suitably-sized, central, and cost-effective venue continues.
‘We will miss our customers in Bantry,’ he said. ‘We have built up fantastic relationships with people over the last five years.
‘It’s been truly remarkable, the support we got from them through Covid, the cost of living crisis, and the energy crisis,’ he added. ‘We have nothing but love for all of them. We appreciate their support and friendship.’
More than most, Shane, and his business, went through a baptism of fire. It opened in March 2020, and closed eight days later, when the Covid lockdown was imposed.
At the time, he said the landlord was very good to them and it meant they could – through the sale of take-aways – hang on until 2022 when proper trading resumed. Shane said O’Connor’s, like every other restaurant in the country at this time, has its own challenges.
With more than 50 restaurants and cafés closing per month, he said it too had been affected by the government’s refusal not to return the Vat rate to 9%.
According to figures from the Restaurant Association of Ireland, 612 food businesses closed since last September, when the reduced Vat rate was returned from 9% to the 13.5% rate.
Many restaurant owners throughout West Cork have been active in making pre-Budget submissions to have the Vat rate reduced to 9% because without an easing of costs they believe there will be many more closures to follow.
