Rural pubs wishing for a busy Christmas

By SIOBHÃÂN HOLLIMAN RURAL pubs around the county are looking forward to plenty of punters celebrating the festive season after one of their toughest years in business. Publicans argue that cheap drink in supermarkets and off-licences has done irreparable damage to their trade, yet many remain optimistic for 2012. Christmas week will be one of their busiest of the year and pub owners expect it to bring a very welcome boost to business. [private] Eileen Regan from Regan's in Clonboo told The Tuam Herald that it has been a very tough year for Galway pubs, especially those in rural and outlying areas of the county. 'We're doing our best. The Christmas trade is very important to us. Thankfully people still enjoy going out to the pub and listening to some music. Money is tight everywhere but we have to keep going, it's our livelihood,' she remarked. Stricter drink-driving laws are also thought to be impacting on country pubs but many have established their own schemes to enable local customers to be picked up or dropped home if required. Owner of the Cortoon Inn, outside Tuam, Micky Gilmore says he always makes himself available to drive customers home at the end of the night. Driving them home 'Customers are comfortable knowing that they have a way home and that they can enjoy a few drinks on a night out,' he told The Herald. While most of his business is at weekends, he says one of the big factors affecting trade this year was emigration. 'The same people simply aren't there at the counter anymore,' he reflects. 'Many of the younger groups have left the country and it's very noticeable in the pub,' says Micky. While St Stephen's night and New Year's Eve are traditionally the two biggest nights for pubs during the Christmas holidays, a lot of the publicans we spoke to said Christmas Eve was becoming increasingly popular. Eileen Clarke of Clarke's Tavern in Corrandulla says despite the recession, customers continue to enjoy their nights out. 'Fortunately the year has been quite good for us so far. Trade has been steady really with weekends and Monday nights being the busiest,' she commented. She said every pub will welcome the extra customers for Christmas week and she stressed that it was clear to see that money is very scarce. 'We have good customers and there's a big population in our area and thankfully we've had a good few social functions, particularly for young people,' added Eileen. Despite a number of pubs closing their doors for good this year, others have managed to cling on and see themselves as a centre where friends and neighbours can meet. 'I think in villages and rural areas the pub is where you meet your neighbours and have the chat,' reflected Micky Gilmore, who says many families will be welcoming home loved ones this week while some will be thinking of others who won't be at home for the holidays. Meanwhile many pubs in the city and county are part of the designated driver initiative whereby those driving home can enjoy free, non-alcoholic drinks courtesy of Coca Cola. The aim of the campaign is to reduce instances of drink driving and promote safety during the festive season. The Gardaí is encouraging all road users to take responsibility over the next ten days and to put safety first in order to prevent further deaths and serious injuries on the roads. [/private]