Call to save Donegal’s rural pubs before more doors close - Donegal Daily

Donegal must act now to save its rural pubs before more towns and villages lose them for good, a Ballybofey councillor and publican has warned.Cllr Martin Harle...

Donegal must act now to save its rural pubs before more towns and villages lose them for good, a Ballybofey councillor and publican has warned.

Cllr Martin Harley says there is little sense in waiting until the last local has shut before scrambling to find funding to bring them back.

“Keep the gate open when it is open," Cllr Harley told Donegal County Council this week as he brought forward a motion for the council to back calls from the pub trade for targeted support in next week’s Budget.

Cllr Harley, who owns Harley’s Cheers Bar in Ballybofey, said rural pubs are “an integral part of our communities” and warned that their disappearance was about much more than the loss of individual businesses.

“Not alone for the jobs that are involved, they are community hubs,” he said.

“They’re supporting local GAA clubs, soccer clubs, boxing clubs, running events for them - quizzes, nights at the races, different events that take place in local pubs to help the community.

"If there’s something happening in community areas, there’s always someone running the pub to help local people in that area as well."

He added that pubs frequently step up when local causes need support and provide somewhere for people in rural areas to meet, particularly amid concerns around social isolation.

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Donegal has lost more than a quarter of its pubs since 2005. Drinks Industry Group of Ireland figures show the number of licensed pubs in the county fell from 453 in 2005 to 334 in 2024. That's a loss of 119 premises, or 26.3%.

Cllr Harley said some villages in the county which once had four or five premises are now down to one, or none at all, as in the case of Doochary.

His motion called for council support for the rural pub sector’s Budget submission, including a proposed €20 tax credit for every 50-litre keg of draught beer or cider purchased, capped at €20,000 per premises.

"A lot of places will not even come close to that, but it will be some saving," Cllr Harley said.

The scheme, intended to bring relief amid rising energy costs, has a maximum cost of €75 million to the State.

Cllr Harley also highlighted the '1,000 cafes' scheme in France, where a social programme was launched in 2019 to encourage the reopening of cafés and bars in small villages that had lost them.

He said Ireland should not wait until rural communities are stripped of those social outlets before trying to reverse the damage.

“There’s so much that they offer in a community, and every one of us here would know that,” he said.

Cllr Paul Canning seconded the motion and said local pubs remain central to community life.

“It is the main fundraising hub, the main celebration area, and all the social gatherings take place in the local pub in the local towns,” he said.

“They are an integral part of any small town, and they’re the heart of the town, in my opinion.”

Director of Finance, Corporate Services and Information Systems Richard Gibson said there was no objection to the motion and confirmed that the council would write to the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance expressing its support for the submission by rural pubs ahead of Budget 2027.