Dublin restaurant owner loses ‘hundreds of thousands of euros worth of food’ as indoor dining remains shut

0
42
0 hugospng.png
0 hugospng.png

A Dublin restaurant owner has claims to have “lost hundreds of thousands of euros worth of food” as indoor dining remains shut.

Gina Murphy, the owner of Hugo’s restaurant on Merrion Row in Dublin said that the re-opening delay is “beyond disappointing.”

She said: “I’m beyond disappointed, they’ve had six months to get all this in place.

“We shut down on December 23, we couldn’t open on the 24th – we lost hundreds of thousands of euros worth of food that was discarded.

“They’ve had six months to plan this for every connotation, and we get six days’ notice.

“We’ve already placed orders, we have rehired staff – I have spent the day today taking cancellations for people that had booked tables indoors.”

She told Newstalk: “The farmers have been notified, the abattoirs have been notified, the fishermen, the growers – everybody was on notice that we were due to open and we had full books.

“And now all these suppliers are going to be left with produce on their hands, and we deal in perishable goods.

“That has not been taken into consideration, it’s disgraceful.

“I’m finding it impossible to own and operate a business in this country.”

This comes as the return of indoor hospitality is delayed for at least two weeks.

Indoor dining is now expected to open to fully vaccinated people or those who have recovered from Covid but Gina says it is not up to her to “police” the situation.

She said: “I see that as being ridiculous, I am not the vaccine police.

SEE ALSO  Nothing confirms the Phone (2a): this will be its expected cheap smartphone to sweep sales in Spain

“Who am I to say that a piece of paper that somebody hands me is a real or a forgery?

“This is just ridiculous stuff, and it’s not workable.”

Gina believes that people employed in hospitality and tourism are being disrespected.

She said: “One in 10 people in this country is employed in hospitality and tourism.

“It’s really frustrating to not be acknowledged for what we contribute to society and to the economy.

“We’ve had our livelihoods destroyed for the last 16 months destroyed.”