Get ready for the Ireland of the €10 pint – our ‘rip-off’ reputation is threatening tourism

Pól Ó Conghaile

Revellers outside the Temple Bar pub in Dublin toast St Patrick's Day. Photo by Artur Widak via Getty Images

March 11 2023 02:30 AM

This year, a pint costing more than €10 will go viral. That’s my prediction.

Prices are already close to that in Temple Bar. And it won’t be hospitality’s only Joe Duffy moment in 2023.

Last year, we had ‘ Sconegate’. We read about the Kerry GAA team returning home after a final and the senator sleeping in his car to avoid Dublin’s sky-high hotel rates.

This year, we’ve had St Patrick’s Day bill shock. A restaurant is charging €56 for an 8oz ‘petite filet’ steak; a tourist attraction over €28 for entry. The cheapest hotel room in Dublin on booking.com for July 29, the night before the All-Ireland football final, is already €229.

There are lots of reasons for rising prices. Hotels and restaurants rightly point to inflation in energy, food, staffing, insurance and even linen. Around 25pc of Ireland’s tourism accommodation is currently contracted by the State, putting even more pressure on supply and demand.

It’s true that you can pay less for a hotel by booking in advance. It’s true that Dublin is not expensive compared to Paris, London or New York, and that we tend to sensationalise freak prices without comparing like with like.

It’s true that consumers are spending, that many hoteliers are honest and fair, and that prices will naturally be higher at busier times — be it airfares, hotels or weekend menus.

But there is gouging and pricing stupidity too, and it’s putting Ireland’s tourism reputation under threat.

Remember the public goodwill for hotels and restaurants during Covid, when the industry took a hit of €6bn (after government supports)? Contrast that with the distinct vacuum of sympathy when the industry lobbied to keep its special 9pc Vat rate this spring.

Last autumn, Fáilte Ireland wrote to hotels warning of “ price-spiking”. This month, its CEO, Paul Kelly, sounded another alarm about how rising prices could hurt Ireland’s image.

“We do not want tourism to be viewed, for example, the way banks were viewed after the financial crash,” he told the Irish Tourism Industry Confederation.

Why should we care about Irish tourism’s image?

Well, because it provides more than 200,000 jobs. Because money we spend on meals or hotel rooms trickles down to local suppliers, producers and families.

Because we don’t want to lose visitors to impressions of fleecing and bad value, hamstringing recovery.

Because we want to make memories, take holidays and celebrate occasions in special places people are inspired to create and work in.

What can be done about price rises?

The Vat reprieve is a step. Boosting room supply in a balanced way that respects liveable communities may help, but not overnight.

A hotel rate cap will never happen, but the industry has to better manage its peak rates, offer value in packages bundling meals and activities, for example, and better communicate around cost, showing how our hard-earned cash helps Irish communities rather than distant corporations.

For our part, as punters, I think the key is to zero in on ‘value’ rather than ‘price’.

If you encounter bad value, by all means call it out. But value doesn’t mean cheap. It means getting the experience you pay for — whatever the bill.

But for €10, that will have to be a hell of a pint.

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Get ready for the Ireland of the €10 pint – our ‘rip-off’ reputation is threatening tourism

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