Closure of Nenagh pub

There was a sense of sadness and surprise in Nenagh this week after news emerged that one of the town’s longest established pubs had closed.

It is understood that staff at The Hibernian Inn - where around 25 were employed in total - were informed last Sunday of closure of the Pearse St premises with immediate effect.

With its restaurant, B&B accommodation and private meeting rooms, the Hi-B, as it locally known, has been one of the town’s more popular hostelries for many years. But Nenagh councillor Séamie Morris, a brother of proprietor Martin Morris, said the financial pressures facing the Hi-B demonstrate just how difficult the pub trade is.

“It’s down to how tough business is at the moment,” Cllr Morris said. “Even though you’ve plenty of people coming in the door, it’s what’s going out the door is the problem.”

Increasing energy costs are a major issue for pubs and restaurants, Cllr Morris said, also citing the likes of insurance and television licence costs among the pressures of running a pub. The Covid crisis had a long-lasting impact on publicans. He also regarded commercial rates as a major issue, and hit out at the “shadow-boxing going on between Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael” over the rate increase currently proposed by Tipperary Co Council.

“They’re saying it’s only five percent. Five percent could kill a business,” Cllr Morris said.

His thoughts were with the Hi-B staff at a particularly difficult time of the year. “It is extremely unfortunate coming up to Christmas. Nobody wanted to do it,” Cllr Morris said of the closure.

He said the situation is being worked on and he hoped there would be a satisfactory outcome.