Closings and (re-)openings January-June 2018

Its time for another bi-annual summary of what pub opening and closings I've noticed in Dublin since the last update in December.

New

Firstly, lets deal with the substantial number of net new licences.

Press Up Group's 1013644 Stella Cinema in Rathmines had re-opened prior to the last update, but its licence number was at that stage un-known. Another addition to their chain now has that status of being open but not yet on the lists - the Lucky Duck on Aungier Street. This had been a pub before but closed over 20 years ago, and was restored from near total dereliction.

In another case of restoration, but this time not a former pub, 1014208 Clontarf Baths has opened as a restaurant with pub licence. The baths were meant to open at the same time, but this almost immediately caused concern relating to planning permission that has still not quite gone away - coverage in recent weeks has been in the Sunday Business Post which is not linkable online.

1013769 9 Below was probably open at the time of the last update, but hadn't hit the licence register and had missed my attention. In the basement of the Hibernian Club, drink has been available on this site for years - but previously only to members of the club. Now anyone with a massively big wallet can do so, which probably hasn't changed the clientele much!

1014216 Iveagh Garden Hotel is a substantial new hotel replacing older offices on Harcourt Street, and 1014271 Dunne and Crescenzi is a long-standing South Frederick Street restuarant presumably branching out in to serving non-eating patrons. This trend was identified in the Morrisseys (now Lisney) annual report as a specific growth sector in the pub trade for Dublin.

And finally, 1013760 Savoy Cinema has re-added a licence after a very prolonged period of not actively holding one. The Savoy receiving its alcohol licence originally in the 1960s was a cause of concern for nearby publicans, but no such reports have appeared this time!

Reopenings

While a smaller number than last time, there were still a fair few closed pubs re-opening.

1013727 Wasabi Bar & Grill has opened in the former WJ Kavanagh premises on Dorset Street, changing from a craft bar to a Brazilian BBQ theme (despite the name implying Japanese food - the same operators have a sushi place down the road).

A few longer closed premises have also reappeared. 1013579 Luckys has opened in what was Bohan's on Meath Street; 1011790 Fourth Corner in the former Nash's on New Street; and N0057 The Kings Inn Bolton Street has reopened in the past few days.

The physical number of closed pubs that are capable of reopening has dwindled so significantly now that this number is likely to stay small for the next while.

Closures

Very few premises have closed since the last report and probably only N0096 Hill Street Sports Bar (formerly Stoneys) has any risk of staying closed for a prolonged period.

N0097 Beer House on Capel Street/Bolton Street has also closed but has already been snapped up to become the next branch of Galway Bay Brewery and is recruiting staff currently. S4583 Residence and S3503 Cafe en Seine are both closed for extensive refits but will reopen.

S1709 The Belgard Inn has closed for demolition and replacement by a Lidl, there were plans for a replacement pub but these are uncertain. S0149 Howl At The Moon has also closed for redevelopment but there should be a replacement pub on-site.