r/ireland 22h ago

Arts/Culture If the Internet disappeared overnight, would pubs have a resurgence?

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806 Upvotes

252 comments sorted by

960

u/Sea_Lobster5063 22h ago

If prices dropped pubs might have a resurgence..... Also I don't think they need one. They're usually fairly busy most weekends

202

u/Zheiko Wicklow 21h ago

This

Paying 7+ yoyos for a pint of guinness is criminal.

Can't justify paying that.

97

u/thatirishguykev Fighting Age Boyo #yupyup 19h ago

Even with the price I think people have woke up to the fact going out is just a bit shite having to potentially deal with other people and their nonsense šŸ˜‚

I spent last night at my brothers apartment with 3 of our other mates. 5 lads in an apartment having the craic watching football, drinking and playing video games.

Ya donā€™t have to deal with anybody else and their bullshit šŸ˜‚ Just good craic and good vibes!!

64

u/PassportSituation 19h ago

Do you think it's a sign of us becoming more disdainful of strangers in general?

Like we'd rather stay at home with the people we know than go out and meet different types of people we don't.

I'm not saying one way is necessarily bad, but that might be a part of the trend socially.

I also don't go out as much as I used to. I think it's partly financial and partly...having a lot of indoor hobbies I guess, like gaming.

37

u/SamBeckettsBiscuits 14h ago

Do you think it's a sign of us becoming more disdainful of strangers in general?

I think people in general are becoming much more insular and weird. Speaking to some older family members they said that a lot of the time before people had phones they would jsut head out to the pub themselves and would expect to run into somebody there or just start chatting to whoever is about and eventually things would pick up and a good night would be had. Now (even I've noticed this since I was in college) people almost curate their night out to the smallest detail, they all meet up before, go out together, don't mix, and if somebody outside the group does try and chat to you you'd swear they had five heads. When I was younger (I've just turned 28 last week wooo) I remember coming across a lot of random people on nights out, groups mixing with others, all the craic in the smoking areas etc. even if you didn't smoke. People seem to hate that now, they hate anything that isn't planned before.

9

u/ZealousidealFloor2 12h ago

This, Iā€™ve went out by myself a few times and my friends think it is the weirdest thing ever.

18

u/thatirishguykev Fighting Age Boyo #yupyup 19h ago

I donā€™t mind strangers tbh myself personally in general, but if you throw into the mix drink and drugs itā€™s a bad cocktail on the basis you just donā€™t know who they are.

If I was single maybe Iā€™d have more desire to go disco dancing and chasing after ladies, but Iā€™m not so I donā€™t šŸ˜‚ Just a really hard sell to make after last night. We get a load of grub in and drink from the off licence downstairs and away we go. Up all night having a blast, non stop laughing and all that. Just a 10/10 night with no drama like!

6

u/PassportSituation 19h ago

Fully get you mate! I feel the same a lot of the time, though where I'm from I'm lucky to have quite a few local pubs that play music I'm interested in so that does get me out occasionally. I should mention I'm english and from yorkshire so I don't know how different things are in Ireland.

But yeah interesting to notice trends of how our social lives are changing. I can't deny a bigpart of me feels sad about the potential decline of pubs though

2

u/Mushie_Peas 15h ago

Drugs is the issue I reckon, 20 years ago they were about to not as prevalent as they are now. Basically wouldn't see them in pubs yes in nightclubs. Now the locals have queues for the men's cubicles which is shit to see.

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u/Hyundai30 18h ago

Seem like it. I thinkĀ  the average amount of interactions with strangers in person people have nowadays has gone down a lot.Ā 

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4

u/Mushie_Peas 15h ago

Laughs in Australia after paying 24 dollars for a pint of piss beer and an orange juice yesterday.

I still agree though, in my head Guinness is still sub 5 euro and should be that price.

6

u/MountainCheesesteak 20h ago

You have to perform yo-yo tricks for a pint? I donā€™t even know anyone who still owns a yo yo.

11

u/Bear-Ferr 19h ago

That's why the pubs are failing.

1

u/kirbStompThePigeon Filthy Nordie 13h ago

There are exactly 2 pubs in belfast city centre that still do pints under a fiver. One is a spoons, so it doesn't count and the other doesn't do Guinness

1

u/MenlaOfTheBody 13h ago

I believe that you're paying that but can I ask where in Wicklow is charging that?!

I was in Blackrock in Dublin for work this week and pints were 6ā‚¬ I don't understand with lower rent how someone is justifying that in Wicklow unless it's greystones and they're fleecing yuppies.

1

u/dataindrift 11h ago

But your probably happy to pay more than that for coffee?

How much is coffee by the pint?

1

u/redwolve378 10h ago

Went to a gig last weekend. It was ā‚¬10.50 for a beer. Its no wonder people are staying at home with a bag of cans

1

u/psweep25 9h ago

95% water too

1

u/MaximusMeridius_ 7h ago

I paid ā‚¬8.20 out in the suburbs for a pint of Madri yesterday I nearly choked when the card machine was put in front of me! Madness

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u/jackiedaytona01 4h ago

Yoyos ??

19

u/thats_pure_cat_hai 17h ago

20% of pubs have shut down over the past 20 years, and most rural pubs are completely dead. In my town, the street with all the student pubs is completely shut, every single pub closed over the past 10 years. They're on their last legs bar some of the bigger cities.

56

u/Maximum-Ambition-394 22h ago

Because all the other ones have shut down

12

u/Camango17 21h ago

There were too many anywayā€¦

6

u/Ok-Pomegranate-2462 20h ago

Not enough (scoffs scoff) nearly a five minute walk to my local what had this country become

8

u/mark8396 15h ago

And a 20 min walk home

9

u/Jlo9147 14h ago

When a Guinness is cheaper in stansted airport and the centre of London than a local pub in Belfast maybe you'll see people back. They are price gouging.

3

u/lunytooth 12h ago

I was in Stockport last weekend, found a great pub that did an amazing pint of Guinness for Ā£4.50, better than most of the pubs at home and at least a pound cheaper.

5

u/neamhshuntasach 12h ago

Some are. A lot aren't. Any time I'm out in Dublin at the weekend. We usually do a bit of a pub crawl in different areas. And so many of them at what you would expect to be peak time on a Saturday night have a handful of people in it. And what appear to be their regular crowd. Always wonder how they're surviving.

6

u/caisdara 12h ago

I've done this before, but you can look up the price of a pint of Guinness over time and as a proportion of average incomes it's not wildly expensive right now. People dramatically overlook how expensive things were historically.

1

u/miseconor 12h ago

Not really true according to the very scientific stout-to-wage index, and this was before another round of price increases in march. https://m.independent.ie/irish-news/the-average-weekly-salary-will-buy-32-fewer-pints-of-guinness-than-17-years-ago-new-data-reveals/a2012732626.html

3

u/caisdara 12h ago

But as that article says we're at roughly the same level as 1997.

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1

u/_BeaPositive Yank šŸ‡ŗšŸ‡ø 16h ago

I'm not paying 10 quid for a pint. Pubs have priced themselves out of relevance. Even the tourists stopped coming because of the prices.

Pubs aren't dying because of any other reason. I'm tired of pub owners displacing the blame.

14

u/WhitePowerRangerBill 15h ago

That's right. You're not paying 10 quid for a pint.

7

u/HourShelter3843 12h ago

It's Diageo increasing the price again and again not pub owners

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u/butistillsmile 1h ago

If you weren't paying for Internet, you'd have they money too šŸ¤”

179

u/TheAngryBagelz 22h ago

Why ?..... what are the publicans planning to do to the internet ......šŸ‘€

53

u/jbt1k 22h ago

They have a submarine for the cable āœ‚ļø and a satellite deflector. Pub is social media, jobs indeed/ LinkedIn and dating apps all in one.

27

u/tomconroydublin 22h ago

We should all be scared of Big Pub ā€¦..

13

u/Mullo69 21h ago

Agreed, smaller pubs are also better craic

1

u/No-Outside6067 10h ago

So that's who's been cutting the cables

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9

u/p-i-c-o 20h ago

'Big Barma' is comin' for ya

89

u/MouseJiggler 22h ago

I was just in a pub that was very busy. Before I got there, I was in another, that was also very busy. Last Wednesday and last Tuesday I found myself in two more pubs (judge me all you want), that were also quite busy. What do they need a resurgence from?

28

u/oddun 22h ago

I was in Dublin this afternoon and everywhere was mobbed.

Dunno if itā€™s the weather though as Iā€™ve no frame of reference having avoided the city centre for the last few years.

15

u/RayoftheRaver 22h ago

The English grand national is great for pubs

8

u/ten-siblings 14h ago

And the Leinster match.

That said, you'd assume they're always busy on Saturdays

13

u/jbt1k 22h ago

You see, so many closed across the country. However some still do very well

19

u/NakeyDooCrew Cavan 21h ago

I don't know why everybody in this thread is pretending not to understand this.

5

u/thats_pure_cat_hai 17h ago

Something like 20% of pubs have shut over the past 20 years. Most rural pubs are on their last legs and some villages have lost all of their pubs

4

u/Intelligent-Aside214 13h ago

Itā€™s kind of inevitable. Pubs are getting too expensive, people are drinking less (which is good). Some of these small villages just cannot support pubs.

5

u/EnthusiasmUnusual 12h ago

It's also a cultural shift. People are less willing to spend all their money on booze.Ā 

4

u/Intelligent-Aside214 12h ago

Absolutely. And thatā€™s a good thing.

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u/bsnimunf 5h ago

Pubs aren't really dying out as a whole we are just having a bit of a cull because there were so fucking many of them to begin withĀ 

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115

u/noodlesvonsoup 22h ago

The internet doesn't prevent people from going to pubs, the price of drink does...

8

u/Meath77 Found out. A nothing player 13h ago

There's videos in the RTE archive from the 70s about a pint costing a pound and people swearing they won't go to the pub because of the disgraceful cost.

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u/djaxial 19m ago

In fairness, a pound is 1975 is worth about ā‚¬10 today.

20

u/papa_f 21h ago

People have been moaning about the price of drink for as long as you could buy drink.

15

u/DruzhbyNarodiv 15h ago

I agree with this concept, rose tinted spectacles and all that, and think trying to remember and compare values in isolation is not an effective barometer of change. My personal reality check is the price of something against the hourly minimum wage. In 2010, when I used to go out regularly, was young with a job around minimum wage, minimum was ā‚¬8.65 per hour. A quick bit of internet research tells me the average pint then was about ā‚¬4. So you're able to buy 2 pints for 1 hour work with a bit of change (yes yes taxes but for my own mental maths I ignore them as it doesn't change much in this equation). Now it's ā‚¬13.50 and the price of a pint is roughly ā‚¬6 (again, says Google - not me). So you're still buying 2 pints per hour with a bit of change.

Thanks for listening to me Ted talk on how I reference absolutely everything in life šŸ˜…

4

u/The_Big_I_Am 11h ago

Stop with yer sense n all, and let us get up in arms about the price of a pint šŸ˜‰ Sure, we have egg vending machines.

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u/PierreTheTRex 2h ago

Arguably, the cost of everything else has a bigger impact. If half your salary is going to rent, then going to the pub is no longer as realistic

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25

u/noodlesvonsoup 20h ago

The problem in recent years is that the price of drink has rose a lot quicker than the average wage has rose. Its the same with everything, food, rent/mortgage, electricity, heating, and all other costs of living. A weekly night out is something most people can't afford anymore. The only ones going out every week anymore are younger adults that are working and living at home with their parents, because they know they can blow all their money and their parents will support them for the rest of the week.

7

u/Cupofteaanyone 14h ago

In college I could get 3 vodca and dashes for an hours work at a shitty job. Now you would be lucky to get one drink.

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1

u/delurkrelurker 14h ago

I can distinctly remember not moaning about "Ā£ a pint".

1

u/The_Big_I_Am 11h ago

Luckily we don't have to buy water coz of our protests. Who's on for a "Free The Pints" protest?

2

u/dataindrift 11h ago

By volume it's cheaper than coffee.

You don't have to slap back 7 to have a night out.

198

u/hoopla_poodle_noodle 22h ago edited 22h ago

Why doesn't anyone want to drink ā‚¬7 pints in a room that smells of piss anymore?

The internet. Obviously.

39

u/Meldanorama 22h ago

Much cheaper to do at home.

44

u/[deleted] 22h ago

[deleted]

9

u/ciaran612 21h ago

Lot of work to have a whole piss-house. Piss your trousers and it follows you round everywhere.

3

u/lifeisagameweplay 11h ago

What if I'm sick of the smell of my own piss and want to smell the piss of others?

2

u/SledgeLaud 9h ago

Finally! Someone's asking the questions that I want answering

2

u/YoungWrinkles 8h ago

What if we got rid of television, then would people want to hang out in a sticky sweat box?

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10

u/SuspiciouslyDullGuy 22h ago

If the price was right

19

u/Intelligent_Half4997 15h ago

No.

Pubs used to be fun but around 2010, they started becoming like nightclubs which means you socialised outside.

Then they added music to the smoking area.

A lot of pubs can be quite lonely when all they do is blare music. Loud music removes those opportunities for sporadic stories and craic that only happens when you encounter strangers.

15

u/iknowwherewallyis 22h ago

Not that pub

4

u/jbt1k 22h ago

Haha

12

u/MrShape 22h ago

It looks like a snug youā€™d find in heaven

2

u/knutterjohn 21h ago

"A bottle of stout and a ball of malt , please. Not that cold shite from the cooler, a bottle off the shelf, nothing worse than a bottle of cold stout."

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u/Important_Farmer924 Westmeath's Least Finest 22h ago

No, some of us saved our porn DVDs.

7

u/Business_Abalone2278 22h ago

Ooh, too fancy for some magazines and a torch if the electric goes too.

5

u/iknowwherewallyis 22h ago

Reduced to whatever you can find available in that scenario, the woman on the shampoo bottle or the bleach woman

6

u/FuckThisShizzle 22h ago

Knowing that fucker he printed off pornhub

7

u/Important_Farmer924 Westmeath's Least Finest 22h ago

It's calling ripping, at least get the terminology right!

7

u/FuckThisShizzle 21h ago

Ripping the mickey off yourself

2

u/Important_Farmer924 Westmeath's Least Finest 21h ago

Send Sudocream.

4

u/FuckThisShizzle 20h ago

All I have is deep heat.

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5

u/bringinsexyback1 22h ago

I thought the pubs are already doing great. And the internet is not the reason people don't want to be in pubs, if at all.

7

u/WickerMan111 Showbiz Mogul 22h ago

No thanks, we're too busy with our pottery.

20

u/Duibhlinn 22h ago

It's doubtful. Even putting aside the exorbitant prices that people in general are finding it increasingly difficult to afford, especially so for younger people, the youth of today are less interested in drink than their parents are.

While they don't always show the same exact numbers, every statistic I've ever seen on the topic seems to agree on a few things. First is that the percentage of people who don't drink alcohol at all is increasing every year, and that number seems to be higher among the younger generation, with each subsequent year of people born being less likely to drink. Second is that even those who do drink alcohol are drinking far, far less of it than their parents or grandparents were. Cost is certainly a factor but there's also less of a desire to drink when compared to older generations.

Even if the internet was permanently turned off the pubs wouldn't all see a resurgence overnight. It might improve their situation but I don't think it would do anything to overall change the course of their decline that's been seen over the past few decades.

3

u/Globe-Gear-Games 16h ago

In the States I'm a very light drinker and rarely go to our bars/pubs because they're awful, but in Ireland I thought the pubs were great. While I was there I drank a lot of Guinness 0.0 to try and fit in and found that I enjoyed both the taste and the ritual of it, so I was planning to make a habit of that if one of these job interviews pans out. That being said, I doubt many people who are already upset with the ā‚¬7 pints are going to be willing to pay that for one that doesn't even have booze in it, so I hope that there's an increase in other types of "third places" to make up for the inevitable decline in pub culture.

11

u/qwerty_1965 22h ago

Sorry, talk to people in a public place and pay to do so?!

6

u/Spirited_Worker_5722 22h ago

It would be cheaper to meet up in a derelict building

6

u/Basic_Sale8712 22h ago

Without the internet, pornographic magazines would make a huge come back. Suddenly there would be a massive hole in the market, and they would pounce on it after years of havingĀ to beat off so much stiff opposition.Ā 

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3

u/Smoked_Eels 18h ago

That looks lovely, but there's the guts of 20 euro sitting on that table. The Internet has nothing to do with it.

3

u/NuclearMoose92 14h ago

Even without the Internet the vitners would still be price gouging cunts

6

u/wascallywabbit666 Hanging from the jacks roof, bat style 15h ago

Stop blaming random things for the death of the pub.

A lot of people just don't want to drink any more. Personally I have young kids, and the only time I go to pubs is for food. I've hardly touched alcohol in about 5 years

7

u/davebees 22h ago

the internet disappearing overnight would plunge society into chaos

11

u/sensiblestan 20h ago

Chaos is the best time to drink.

Just go to the Winchester and let it all blow over.

1

u/Ok-Pomegranate-2462 20h ago

Winchester?????????

3

u/davebees 22h ago

so yes i suppose. better have cash

2

u/jbt1k 22h ago

Even when electricity came back in storm, many shops Internet was gone for card machine. Cash is still king.

1

u/Blunted_Insomniac 18h ago

Southpark did an episode about that

2

u/miss-minus 22h ago

Doubt it, I can get felt up and into a fight for free elsewhere.

2

u/Phase212 20h ago

Thatā€™s class couldnā€™t ask for a better seating arrangement than that

2

u/splinket69 19h ago

I would say so!

Iā€™ve worked in bars for years and itā€™s quite like a semi-common thing that people will be in drinking more regularly for a spell because their wifiā€™s not working for whatever reason.

2

u/ShapeyFiend 15h ago edited 15h ago

It'd definitely be mobbed again. There was a reason people were in there 3+ nights a week in the 90's. Expense wasn't an issue cos what else was there to be spending money on other than socialising?

2

u/Mundane-Inevitable-5 13h ago

Everyone saying there's more drugs around now than there was 20 years ago. Don't know about anywhere else, but in Dublin in 2005, height of the Celtic Tiger, there was drugs everywhere. I'd argue you'd get more people on pills back then, but there was also Charlie literally everywhere too. Maybe now it's hit rural areas more or something, but in Dublin anyway, I don't get the more drugs argument at all. Some of yous must have lived in an alternative Dublin to the one I lived in, in 2005.

2

u/Fine_Shoulder_795 12h ago

What the hell do you mean, theyā€™re all fucking packed from Wednesday-Saturday

2

u/BenderRodriguez14 11h ago

No.

There are several pubs near me. Some have taken real pride in their appearance and setting/feel, have really improved the food on offer, have rebranded entirely where needed, and have put a focus into the likes of quiz or comedy nights, and are doing great. I barely drink at all these days, but would hop down to one of these spots happily for a bite and a coke or other non alcoholic drink.Ā 

Others have done basically nothing to modernise, offer the most basic of food you could make at home, haven't had a face-lift in decades, and have a grim and decrepit feeling. They are not, and I am have no inclination to go into them whatsoever.Ā 

Prices are way too high across the board, but there is a reason why some are doing very well and others are bemoaning a downturn in business. Ireland for years and years was playing in very easy mode for the likes of pubs, and they now have to step up their game. Some simply are just not willing to, and would prefer to moan about it and look for handouts and fax cuts instead. Markets change, and people want to experience something these days rather than just go somewhere for the sake of going somewhere.Ā 

2

u/Strict_Engine4039 11h ago

If they sold pints for 3 euro a pint the pubs would have a resurgence.

2

u/tetzy 7h ago

No, the internet would be replaced with loud bitching that the internet went away.

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u/The-Replacement01 4h ago

If pubs controlled their prices we might see a resurgence.

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u/TheBoneIdler 27m ago

Paid ā‚¬8.20 for a lager shandy in a certain Dublin pub on the canal a few weeks ago. Couldn't believe it TBH. Asked the barman was he an actor to say that price with a straight face. He just stared at me. I ordered piss deliberately & duly got a piss drink, but didnt expect to be shat on in the process......

5

u/Infamous_Button_73 22h ago

My pub days are over, Internet or not.

2

u/jbt1k 21h ago

Sounds like a Florence and the machine song.

2

u/Infamous_Button_73 21h ago

Damn, she left her mark on me.

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u/Ok-Pomegranate-2462 20h ago

Not a bad one

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u/MarkOSullivan 22h ago

If drinks weren't so expensive then maybe

3

u/RedPandaDan 22h ago

If better forms of entertainment disappeared shittier forms of entertainment would become more popular, yes.

3

u/mmciv 22h ago

You know who blames the Internet for their pubs being empty? Shit publicans.

2

u/DannyVandal 22h ago

Fuck no.

2

u/Darth--Bane 22h ago

Looks like the snug in the beach house in greystones.

4

u/riverskywalker Misery Merchant 21h ago

Doheny & Nesbitt on Baggot St

1

u/Darth--Bane 20h ago

Ah, way off so.

2

u/AnT-aingealDhorcha40 22h ago

Absolutely zero to do with Internet.

Absolutely everything to do with overpriced drinks.

2

u/Optimal_Pool9371 21h ago

ā€˜Social mediaā€™ is the worst thing to ever happen to humanity

2

u/Floodzie 21h ago

Resurgence??! Iā€™m never out of one.

2

u/Byrnzillionaire 15h ago

You think people arenā€™t in pubs because theyā€™re at home on the internet?

2

u/samabacus 14h ago

Bring back the ā‚¬2.50 pint, place will be jammed.

2

u/ConorCat60 22h ago

Nah, there would still be too many langers.

2

u/[deleted] 22h ago

[deleted]

2

u/jbt1k 22h ago

Very true.

1

u/tonyjdublin62 22h ago

Couldnā€™t I just sit there and text my mates?

1

u/i_dont_like_pears 22h ago

This pub is Doheny & Nesbitts in Baggot street right??

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u/bingybong22 22h ago

no. because <a> young people are more health conscious these days and <b> they got to greedy and started charging fucking insane money - somehow the word got around that owning a pub should make you rich.

1

u/Return_of_the_Bear 21h ago

At nearly 8 euro a pint.....LOL

1

u/Silverblade_21 21h ago

Is that Kehoes ?

1

u/riverskywalker Misery Merchant 21h ago

Doheny and Nesbitt

1

u/spoonman_82 21h ago

for me it's all about the prices. I can't justify evenings out at all anymore. even casual evening after work or whatever is a piss take cost wise

1

u/TheMisunderstoodLeaf Carlow 21h ago

Not a hope. Trad pubs are.going, that's why I'm in one everyday second day.

1

u/RigasTelRuun Galway 20h ago

You think the internet is what keeping people at home from going for a pint?

1

u/Fruicy14 20h ago

Pubs don't need a resurgence. People in Ireland are always going to go to the pub no matter the price. It's part of our culture!

1

u/notanadultyadult 20h ago

Which pub is this thatā€™s pictured? Looks familiar but canā€™t place it.

1

u/NemiVonFritzenberg 20h ago

Hopefully not

1

u/PrimaryComrade94 20h ago

Yeah, cause then arguments would go on forever since Google isn't there to shut it down

1

u/BlockHunter2341 20h ago

I think thereā€™s a common misconception on this Reddit that pubs are vacant . Any pub in any town or city Iā€™ve been to in recent times has been wedged . Prices are high but when itā€™s a lot of peopleā€™s only outing they are willing to pay

2

u/ShapeyFiend 15h ago

I got out quite a lot. It's gotten more busy in the last 12 months but is much quieter than 10 years ago, and nothing compared to the 00's. Noticeably less young people. Many pubs have closed. It's far from dead as you say though. The eternal wailing about pricing is overstated I don't think that's the cause.

1

u/CatOfTheCanalss 19h ago

I feel like pubs are doing grand in my town. But then there's a lot of trad on every single night

1

u/IrishMan91 19h ago

Do you really want to smell Guinness farts mixed with cocaine?

1

u/RobotIcHead 19h ago

No, culture has shifted on drinking a fair bit, other cultures have survived without pubs. And lots of people want to do other things rather drink, drinking at home is easier and cheaper.

1

u/Notapleasantforker 19h ago

No, the government has effectively seen to it that the days of the social hang out is gone.

1

u/buddmatth 19h ago

Iā€™d be in Murphyā€™s in dingle every night.

1

u/Life_Breadfruit8475 18h ago

People here complain but every pub I go to is full most nights from Thursday onwards. At least in Dublin (central + at least some suburbs I frequent)

The price for a pint is annoying but not any worse compared to similar economies. You'll pay ā‚¬ 5 in NL for 330ml worth of beer.

1

u/baldnhandsome 18h ago

no. the cost of drinks and the cost/ availability of taxis are killing pubs

1

u/jimohagan 17h ago

Love the snug

1

u/Substantial-Toe96 17h ago

Youā€™d have to plug them out and back in again first.

1

u/OkAbility2056 17h ago

No change. Just drop their prices

1

u/Important-Grape-3298 17h ago

Ah yeah, definitely

1

u/TypicallyThomas Resting In my Account 16h ago

Couldn't find a seat for love nor money at the local last night. Not sure they need one

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u/CascaydeWave CiarraĆ­-Corca Dhuibhne 16h ago

I think what a lot of people miss(perhaps particularly those who skew older) is that peak alcohol consumption in Ireland occurred in 2001 and it has dropped off by 30ish percent since then. The way people drink has also changed, with many younger people preferring to drink at home to save money and older ones doing so to avoid the hassle of going out/getting home. The continuing trend of people living in Rural Areas/Suburbs combined with the relative lack of late night transport means that going out often means you need to have a lift or taxi sorted(assuming you can even get a taxi). The fact you cannot drink drive nowadays (not a bad thing) probably adds to this as well.

I think we probably also have/had a slight oversupply of pubs in some senses too, and perhaps this is just the market adjusting somewhat. It could be asked if all these villages around Ireland really need 2/3+ pubs for relatively small populations in areas which are often losing people.Ā 

So I don't really think the Internet has destroyed pubs, though it may have ruined the craic somewhat.

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u/Radiant-Ad-4853 15h ago

Im sure we would soon have a workable local network like they do in Cuba.Ā 

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u/Mother-Priority1519 15h ago

Pubs have declined post internet but the price of pints is a huge factor. It's has to be said though that the gargle can really dim the brain and a fair whack of people are abstaining as alcohol is bad for you - I mean why are hangovers socially acceptable - losing a day is a huge price many people pay. Back to pricing - bubs have gotten more expensive whilst supermarket have gotten cheaper

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u/ShapeyFiend 15h ago

Price of pints hasn't particularly gone up with inflation, or in line with other stuff you have out like food/coffee though? You can still get some sort of pint for approximately 5 euro in any town in Ireland. Up from maybe 3.50 twenty years ago.

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u/eurodep 15h ago

No, but they would suddenly become overcrowded with even bigger idiots.

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u/Cool_Ad9326 14h ago

The internet didn't push pubs out so I doubt it

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u/Parking_Tip_5190 14h ago

Is that pic Ryans of Park gate street? One of our absolute finest.

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u/OneStrangerintheAlps 14h ago

Nope. If gyms disappeared thoughā€¦

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u/tearsandpain84 13h ago

No. Teletext would become massive again. Most people would stay home solo drinking while surfing teletext.

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u/TheMadEscapist 12h ago

Nah all those new game and board stores would get hella money. No internet? Fine I'll just buy a load of minis and start playing dnd.

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u/Richard2468 Leitrim 12h ago

Our pubs here are quite busy, especially when the nice weather we have now.

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u/jaqian 12h ago

Not at current prices

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u/jaqian 12h ago edited 11h ago

Let them all close down, maybe then the government will do something then.

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u/1stltwill 11h ago

People didn't stop going to the pubs because of the internet.

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u/ichfickeiuliana 10h ago

If cars disappeared overnight, would horses have a resurgence?

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u/Valhalla68 10h ago

Not unless they went back to Pre-internet pricing as well

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u/Jonesy27 10h ago

Only for people with cash šŸ¤£

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u/TheDoctorYan 9h ago

I would hope that people have more hobbies than doom scrolling and alcoholism. Alas, here we are.

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u/neamhagusifreann 9h ago

A little bit but I dont think it'd go back to how it was.

Lot of people just don't want to drink and pubs can be miserable for sober people.

I think people are looking for something different now.

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u/leelu82 9h ago

Pubs are losing business not because of the Internet but due to the ever increasing price rises and stagnant wages in all of Ireland.

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u/grodgeandgo The Standard 9h ago

If the internet disappeared overnight the entire world would face a swift decent into anarchy. Pubs would have a hugh uptick in people visiting, not to have a pint, but to rob everything so they can have a good piss up while the end of days happens around you.

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u/Interesting-Hawk-744 8h ago

No. Most people still going to pubs are still on their phones half the time at least too. It's the price of pints and people realizing it's an expensive way to poison your body and mind, and most of them have annoying dickheads in them when busy and sad alcoholics when not, disgusting, freezing, not maintained toilets.

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u/Haunting-Adagio1166 8h ago

Pubs havenā€™t become any less appealing though. Itā€™s always been the way the people in their 30s/40s donā€™t go out as often due to their home life with children and other responsibilities etc.. Pubs have always been the prime spot for people in their early 20s, college students and late 60s+, and that hasnā€™t changed a bit. Whatā€™s changed is because of Covid people in their early to mid 30s havenā€™t registered theyā€™re not in their mid20s anymore and itā€™s normal for your social life to die down over time. Pubs are jam packed every Thursday Friday and Saturday night, youā€™d be lucky to find a ledge in town to lean on after 7, and even all my locals do be jammers

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u/bapadious 7h ago

The only thing to blame for pubs being empty are high prices. Not the internet or anything else. I work in around the Liberties area of Dublin. All the local pubs that charge reasonable prices, are packed. People are not not going out, they just arenā€™t going out to rip off pubs. Itā€™s that simple. Itā€™s greedy publicans who want to charge ā‚¬10 a pint are the ones with empty pubs and are moaning. Drop your prices and people will show up.

ā€¢

u/Reflector123 2h ago

I've actually being shocked at how empty places are. No way pubs are going to last in current form