Shock in town at closing of popular restaurant due to staffing shortages
There was shock in the town of Cashel on Sunday afternoon at the sudden announcement of the closure of popular bar and restaurant, Davern’s Bar. In a social media post, the owners of the establishment cited their difficulty in being able to get enough trained staff to keep the restaurant open, but said that they hoped the closure would be short term in nature.
This comes as another blow to the town’s Main Street which has already seen a number of businesses close or announce that they are being put up for sale in the recent past.
These include Price Savers at the old Buckley’s supermarket at the top of Main Street, and Davern’s Clothing, located beside Davern’s Bar.
Unfortunately, the closure is part of an increasing problem for on street retail and hospitality businesses, which are struggling with lower demand due to the current cost of living crisis, and increased costs, driven by higher wages and energy prices.
There is also an acute shortage of affordable housing costs, which makes it harder to attract staff into full time employment, with restaurants country wide talking about the difficulty they have hiring both experienced chef and waiting staff.
Davern’s are no different in this regard, and the closure of a business into which so much money was poured only a short number of years ago, will have to make economic decision makers open their eyes to the problems in the hospitality sector.
In announcing the closure, the business kept its loyal customer base in mind, and offered to honour any outstanding gift cards, vouchers and prior reservations, with alternative sittings in its partner restaurant at Bailey’s Hotel.
Hopefully for all concerned, this will only be a short term solution, and we will see Davern’s back open again in the near future.