Price gouging by the pub, restaurant & hotel industry

Remember that those that own their own homes have much more disposable cash than those that dont, or those that rent, especially.

I think that needs to be called out also as anyone owning property in Dublin and working fulltime is likley to have a lot of disposable cash.

Therefore, a pint moving from 7 to 8 or 9 or 10 euro even is not going to bother you, should you be fortunate enough to be in that situation.

We should also bear in mind that there are lots of people on 6 figure salaries in Dublin.

I think the sad thing is there is a real divide between the haves and the have nots.

Although the bars & restaurants are packed in Dublin, it wouldnt suprise me if its only 10% or 15% of the population that actually goes out to fill them.

So 85% to 90% of the population who rent or are on a lower or average income never get to do it, but that 10% to 15% is 200k people in Dublin alone and they fill a lot of bar/restaurant space.

Then factor in the tourists and business travellers and you soon rack up a customer base larger than cork citys population that can easily afford to go out when they fancy.

A tale of 2 cities, you might say.

Not everyone I dont think.

But true the average worker may be able to go out once a quarter.

I am talking about the people out every week/other week.

I think if you took a straw poll in a busy city centre bar tonight, you would find most customers are in that top 10 or 15% - or are tourists/business travellers.

Whereas 10 or 15 yrs ago, there would be a more even distribution.

What absolute nonsense, typically you have no clue what you are talking about, I own my home but i also have two kids in childcare so im effectively paying the equivalent 2 extra mortgages on top of our actual 1, now I can just about to afford to do that thanks to the income we bring in but it leaves us with very little to spend on ourselves at the end of the day, which is fine thats the life we chose BUT I also work with many people younger than me who earn quite a bit less than me, they rent and from chatting to them they are out at least 1 night a weekend if not 2 which they absolutely deserve to be doing. Basically long story short your "theory" is nonsense because you are painting with an INCREDIBLY broad brush that doesnt consider ANY of the other circumstances beyond home ownership might have on someones finances which deffinitely seems to be based off some level of jealousy or classism mentality.

I do agree people in Dublin who own their own house with no mortgage and with a great job have a great platform to spend on luxuries. Having said that if it was just a pint moving from say 5 Euro to 9 Euro the footfall might not effected but its in every aspect of living from using a toll bridge, to filling your petrol tank, or from your takeaway to heating your home, they are going start feeling the pinch when it comes to spend at some point remember those working do retire, they also in a lot of cases have multiple kids that they may well try and help financially and of course the question of value for money will enter in to a lot of peoples minds unless they are mega rich. The figures of restaurant/bar closures bears out that your correct regards to Dublin holding up better than the rest of the country. So like I say in 10/15/20 years time the traditional Irish landscape will be completely unrecognizable and Dublin may become the mecca for eating out/night outs for the entire country. Its kind of sad to saee how its playing out and there seems to be a lot of areas in the outskirts of Dublin where the local has closed so it will be more Dublin city center that will probably remain unscathed through the cost of living crisis.

Thats the place that closed and reopened recently.

It was the Mellow Fig. Now just the Fig?

I'll know when I'm being asked to pay over the odds for something and I won't do it.

You can carry on making all the excuses you need.

As I said, you can carry on making all the excuses you need to.

But everyone reaches their price point eventually where they won't pay because the value simply isn't there.

It doesn't really matter. Once a business gets a reputation for charging high prices for a poor quality product word will spread fast. A burger costing the guts of 20 euro in a pub is a high price to me regardless of their costs. More power to them if they are getting it and turning a profit but if they aren't turning a profit then look for another line of business. Don't be whinging about the vat rate.

Perception is everything.

I think he they have a valid point re disposable income - if you bought in the last 10 years you would be closer to that posters "renter" category though, vs someone who bought 15-20+ years ago and managed their mortgage well - they may only be paying 500 euro a month vs your 1000+, their kids would also be grown up enough not to need childcare now also.

Don't forget - your mortgage may be 1000/1500 but there is plenty of couples renting for 2K + with kids currently.

You seem determined to keep banging on with excuses.

You know what's also "commerce"...people not paying rip off prices because it's not worth it. 😉

Oscar Wilde was a tosser though.

Perhaps. But he wasn't wrong on that occasion though. 😄