A freephone support line for publicans and bar staff has been launched to help those struggling during the pandemic.
Counsellors and financial experts will be available to take calls 24/7 when the service officially opens tomorrow.
Guinness has provided €14 million to the Raising the Bar fund which is supporting the helpline.
The service for pub owners, their staff and their immediate families affected by the COVID-19 crisis will be available from tomorrow, 6 November.
Contact details for the helpline are available on www.MyDiageo.com
Financial Worries
Guinness says the financial impact of Covid-19 pub closures has been hugely significant, with one third of pubs in Dublin having been closed continuously for the last 8 months and 50% of pubs throughout Ireland allowed to open for only 3 out of the last 35 weeks after enduring at least four delays to reopening over the course of the summer, under the most severe hospitality lockdown in Europe. Meanwhile, almost 50% of publicans have borrowed as much as €16,000 since March—one in five as much as €30,000—to cover staff wages and health and safety equipment, such as Perspex screens and PPE.
Loneliness
According to Diageo, people in the pub trade have spoken openly of the heartbreak and pressure they have faced not only due to the stop-start nature of closures, but also the prolonged period of loneliness they have faced being out of work and away from the customers they interact with on a daily basis.
Liam Reid, Corporate Relations Director of Diageo Ireland said: "During this difficult time, we know that publicans and their staff are worried, anxious and in need of practical measures to help them emerge from the longest hospitality lockdown in Europe. Guinness is committed to working with our partners in the LVA, VFI and Hospitality Ulster to identify key areas where we can support all those in the sector who continue to be hardest hit as an industry by the effects of the COVID-19 crisis."
Pressure
Donall O’Keefe, CEO of the LVA commented: "Publicans across Ireland have now faced almost eight months of continuous closures and rolling lockdowns as we deal with the Covid-19 crisis, putting enormous pressure on them and their families. We have sought support from both our suppliers and Government and we welcome the further invaluable, practical measures that Guinness are announcing today as part of their Raising the Bar platform."
Padraig Cribben, Chief Executive of the VFI said: “We firmly believe that the Raising the Bar Helpline will be an invaluable resource for our members as they deal with the untold burdens being placed on them due to the disproportionate financial, mental and emotional effects that this crisis has had on those in the pub sector."
