'Final blow to the business' viability': Beloved Limerick city pub to close after parklet removal

ONE of Limerick City's best-known independent pubs is set to close its doors for good this Christmas Eve.

Crew Brewing Company, based on Thomas Street in the city centre, has announced that it will cease trading after five years of serving as a hub for local beer lovers.

Taking to social media to reveal the news, owner Jono Crute said it was "quite a devastating decision" to make.

"We are unfortunately closing for good on Christmas Eve this year. We were facing the same challenges as everybody in the industry currently - rising costs and less money in the pockets of our customers. We had intended to fight through these issues as we always have but the removal of the parklet without notice and without a succession plan was the final blow to the business' viability and to my mental capacity to fight on. Thank you to every one of you for the support over the years."

READ MORE: 'A rapid day': Rural Limerick town hits front page of New York Times

One of the major reason's for the pub's closure is the recent removal of the parklet outside the premises by Limerick City and County Council. The build-out was installed at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Mr Crute explained: "We had no communication whatsoever ahead of time on the removal of the parklet. We've since learned... that in April, or at least by April rather, a decision was made to remove all of the parklets around the city."

"We did not receive any communication on that at all, unfortunately... The council released a statement saying there was continuous engagement with the businesses, which unfortunately is a lie."

The local businessman said that the council's demolishing of the parklet heavily damaged his relationship with them and had an enormous impact on the pub. "I don't think anyone who comes here or who drinks here is under any illusions as to the impact and the kind of positive aspects brought to our business of the parklet itself. Primary impact obviously is revenue.

Mr Crute added: "I would expect kind of a 20 to 25% drop in revenue thanks to the removal of the parklet over the summer and summer is the key time for us."

"Without that revenue, it felt like the business was no longer viable, no matter which way myself or the accountants tried to look at it in every direction. There wasn't a viable path forward financially without the parklet but in addition, there was other knock on effects. The atmosphere it created was a real positive and a real feature for us."

Mr Crute also revealed that he received an email from the council last week saying that a widening of the footpath wasn't an option and the only option available to the business was to use the existing public footpath. He said there wasn't enough space for them to leave tables and leave the required two metres between the tables.

"That was pretty much the hammer blow... I really don't want to come across as if I'm suggesting that the council came in and closed our business, and certainly not in any targeted way but I would say that their terrible communication, well, their non existent communication, and their inability to come up with a succession plan, unfortunately, has been the final blow."

The owner of Crew Brewing Company thanked all his customers and staff for their support and is encouraging locals to pay a visit to the pub before its closure.

Mr Crute concluded that anyone unhappy with how the council has handled this is encouraged to contact them directly at customerservices@limerick.ie. "I'd encourage you all to keep minding each other and keep drinking independent beer where you can."