Seamus Duke The chairperson of of the County Roscommon branch of the Vintners Federation Mr. Padraig Walshe from Knockcroghery says that he is not surprised to hear that there are 24 pubs for sale throughout the county. ‘There is at least one pub for sale in every town in County Roscommon at the moment. It’s a sign of the times unfortunately. There are loads of places selling drink but the pub trade has gone down. It is very hard to compete with the big supermarkets who are sellling drinks at cost price. We can’t compete with them, it’s as simple as that’ he said. Padraig Walshe says that there could even be more pubs for sale than the figure quoted in a Sunday Tribune report at the weekend. ‘There are a lot pub licences being sold too. Premises which were pubs are not pubs anymore because the licences have been sold in a lot of cases’ he said. The VFI spokesperson says that the downturn in the pub trade in the county has been dramatic. ‘There are probably too many pubs now, that’s why people are getting out of the business. There are many pubs that are family-run businesses and they are going through a tough time. It’s hard to see where an upturn is coming from either’ he said. ‘We are not whinging. The fact is that the pub business is on the wane and that’s the reality. That people are trying to get out of the business is evidence of that’ he concluded.
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