why are there no J D Wetherspoon pubs in ROI?

Macy0161

Cydoniac wrote: »

I'm against chains taking over a place and consequently removing choice.

We don't have choice now - pretty much every pub has the same line up of beers.

When I lived in the UK I wasn't really a fan of Weatherspoons pubs. However if they bring the committment to microbrewerys, and stock some decent ales, I'm happy enough with them coming here. Actually even if they just brought a commercial (northern) bitter with them I'd probably be happy!

Super-Rush

laois gael wrote: »

Leave them to the Uk ....Would not suit Ireland at all....

Care to elaborate?

partyguinness

TBH 'Spoons will be pretty much indistinguishable from some of the larger super pubs in Dublin.

UK mutliples pretty much dominate the Irish high streets anyway so what difference will another one make.

veetwin

Deleted User wrote: »

I've been quite happy in any Wetherspoons I've been to. I doubt anyone goes there expecting Michelin star cuisine. For what you pay I think the food is quite decent. And cheaper drinks are always a good thing! If JDW provides jobs and competition for rip-off pubs then I think it can only be a good thing having them in Ireland.

+1

I was in one in Manchester City centre recently. Ate a perfectly cooked steak with lovely fries for very reasonable money. They also had a huge selection of excellent beers and ales to chose from and no music blaring in the background meant you could actually talk to who ever you were with. What's not to like?

darced

This post has been deleted.

Push Pop

Geuze wrote: »

The first JDW pub to open in RoI will begin trading in July 2014.

http://www.irishtimes.com/business/sectors/retail-and-services/jd-wetherspoon-starts-1-5m-building-job-on-blackrock-pub-1.1705777

Very surprised with Blackrock being chosen as a location. Goes completely against the character of the place. Maybe city centre or swords or somewhere but dear god not Blackrock!

suicide_circus

Push Pop wrote: »

Very surprised with Blackrock being chosen as a location. Goes completely against the character of the place. Maybe city centre or swords or somewhere but dear god not Blackrock!

wont somebody please think of the house prices!!

suicide_circus

live in dub city centre, can't remember the last time I darkened the door of a "normal" irish pub serving guinness/bud/heino/carlsberg/coors/bud/smithwicks/becks vier. and I dont accept the label of "snob" because I amnot ccontent to be forcibly limited to the same 7/8 beers for the rest of my days.

Inquitus

Did they buy the Slaughtered Lamb in Swords or was that just a rumour?

Geuze

http://thebeernut.blogspot.ie/2013/10/hey-jd.html

See above for a review of a guest beer in JD Wetherspoon, Belfast.

Price is 2.29 stg, which is about 2.80-2.90 euro.

Great value for good beer.

Add a bit more here for higher VAT, rents, overheads, wages.

We might see 3.50 for pints of good beer in Dublin???

awec

The one in Belfast is a dive. Like most Wetherspoons the night time clientele is just loads of undesirable characters.

It is one of few pubs that actually has to employ bouncers when you usually only see them at clubs.

Beefy78

There's many things you can criticise Wetherspoons pubs for being. "Soulless" is not one of them. They're typically built into old, traditional buildings - churches, cinemas, post offices and rarely are two of their pubs the same.

keith16

Cydoniac wrote: »

I'm against chains taking over a place and consequently removing choice.

What like the thousands of pubs around Ireland that sell the same formulaic piss, have the same horse racing / football on telly and have the same crap music blaring in the evening?

They might have different names above the door, but don't let that fool you into thinking you have much choice. You don't.

Plus the VFI will see to it that you pay the same price too.

partyguinness

Beefy78 wrote: »

There's many things you can criticise Wetherspoons pubs for being. "Soulless" is not one of them. They're typically built into old, traditional buildings - churches, cinemas, post offices and rarely are two of their pubs the same.

I think the places you have just mentioned may actually contribute to the soulless and cold perception. They are in large open buildings like old banks etc which are hard to get comfortable in when Irish pubs are traditionally more cosy and intimate (large super pubs aside).

'Spoons tend to be very large and open with a quasi canteen feel. When you walk in, it is a sea of tables and chairs, a sprinkling of slot machines, large TVs on the wall. Admittedly, that sounds like a lot of established pubs in Ireland.

I think what might irk people about Spoons is that it is such a contrived corporate entity. The ethos is stack 'em high sell 'em cheap as opposed to the rose tinted view of cosy traditional pubs in Ireland. They are jammed packed with 18-25 year olds kids at the weekend knocking back cheap drink and shots. If you are not in that age group, well, you will stay away.

I occasionally eat lunch in my local 'Spoons. Cheap no fuss. But at night time the place is unrecognisable and a complete no go area! Bouncers and undesirables everywhere..lol

I am pie

awec wrote: »

The one in Belfast is a dive. Like most Wetherspoons the night time clientele is just loads of undesirable characters.

It is one of few pubs that actually has to employ bouncers when you usually only see them at clubs.

Blackrock location should keep it from descending to that level, but the one at home is a disaster zone. Remember the football thugs rioting against the poles in there that night? Tables flying out the windows etc. Nasty place, decent beer, rubbish food. Not worth the hassle.

partyguinness

At the end of the day, stick a Spoon at the top of Grafton Street and it will be indistinguishable from the other large pubs in Dublin CC.

The idea that beer connoisseurs will sit around lazily sampling the wonderful exotic European beers and the best small local breweries have to offer is hilarious.

It will be full of 20 year olds getting pissed on cheap drinks and as quickly as possible. Hence indistinguishable from a lot of the existing stock.

partyguinness

partyguinness wrote: »

I have been living in the UK for the past few years and the pub culture is very different here.

Pubs (espec in large towns are cities) are pretty much mass produced chain drinking factories. The word soulless has been used and yes that is correct.

'Spoons' are one of several large chains and they are standardised like much of the high street in the UK.

...

Oh, the ales and bitters are pure muck. I am a Guinness/Murphy's drinker so I am really screwed.

Hmmm.

awec wrote: »

"Pub that serves food" implies it serves up pub grub like you would expect in pubs in Ireland.

That's not the reality. It serves up glorified fast food which is why it's so cheap - the food arrives to the pub already packed and ready to go.

Pub grub in England always just meant something to soak up the drink and fill a gap. It's cheap, edible and plain. Hence the boom in "gastro-pubs" in the last 15 years or so, there was a market for better.
A few pubs in Dublin have started getting sensible with their pricing so I won't be in a hurry to get to Wetherspoons. Had they opened 4 years ago I probably would've been in a good bit.

Ravenid

So apart from Tonic and The Silver Tassie which other pubs are Wetherspoons buying?

Tilly

Ravenid wrote: »

So apart from Tonic and The Silver Tassie which other pubs are Wetherspoons buying?

They bought one in Swords I think.

AlmightyCushion

partyguinness wrote: »

Sorry, 'nice' Guinness is hard to find and I would not expect to find Murphy's over here. It's hard enough to find in Dublin.

This is more than a little of topic but anyway, I was skiing France about a month ago and every second pub there had Murphys on draft. I was shocked, you wouldn't see it in any pub in Ireland and 2,500 metres up a mountain in France they're all serving it. I don't know if it's any good there as I don't like Murphys but maybe a move to the alps might do you well.

Fratton Fred

Tilly wrote: »

They bought one in Swords I think.

The silver Tassie in Loughlinstown?

I'd heard they have bought the fortyfoot in Dun Laoghaire.

bumper234

I am pie wrote: »

Blackrock location should keep it from descending to that level, but the one at home is a disaster zone. Remember the football thugs rioting against the poles in there that night? Tables flying out the windows etc. Nasty place, decent beer, rubbish food. Not worth the hassle.

Yeah because Blackrock only attracts the finest customers from the surrounding areas *cough* The Wicked Wolf *cough*

partyguinness

Tallaght.

In all seriousness the best place for a spoons in Dublin is tallaght.

hynesie08

To be honest, Dublin has some great boozers for both craft beer and getting pissed cheap, but there is a distinct lack of middle ground. My mates won't risk trying crafts in case they spend 6 quid on pints they don't like, and anywhere that has micro/macro usually overcharges for one or the other. So if wetherspoons present a scenario where my mates can drink 4 euro carling/Stella while I get change from a fiver for a cask IPA then good luck to them.

I am pie

bumper234 wrote: »

Yeah because Blackrock only attracts the finest customers from the surrounding areas *cough* The Wicked Wolf *cough*

dead on it's 4rse is it not?

miss no stars

They've bought a fair few pubs...

bumper234

I am pie wrote: »

dead on it's 4rse is it not?

Most are, the point i'm making is that IF a pub is selling cheap booze or has something going for it then people will travel to it. The Wolf years ago is testament to that, Saturday nights used to be mental in there and 90% of the customers were not from Blackrock.

Ravenid

Ravenid wrote: »

So apart from Tonic and The Silver Tassie which other pubs are Wetherspoons buying?

They're opening on Paul Street in Cork, in what used to be the Newport Café.

dd972

How about opposite Connolly Stn / Sherrif St and a €3 pint all day to attract a sophisticated and erudite clientele.

Defiler Of The Coffin

awec wrote: »

The one in Belfast is a dive. Like most Wetherspoons the night time clientele is just loads of undesirable characters.

It is one of few pubs that actually has to employ bouncers when you usually only see them at clubs.

Was in there a few weeks ago on a Saturday night and the place was hoppin! Didn't think the crowd was much more 'colourful' than the other haunts you'll find on the Dublin Rd/Shaftesbury Sqaure area but there you go! They aren't the only pub in that area to have bouncers either, there's not many in the city centre / Golden Mile that don't really. Some lovely beers at a good price to be got as well.

Can't really understand the people in this thread saying that Wetherspoons will remove choice from the market, surely this is the shake-up the Irish pub scene has been badly needing? I can't really see them taking over like they did over in Britain anyway.