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Sounds like the LWH needs to try harder/try different, if it's neighbour the Black Sheep can do so well. I was in Farringtons in December and the place was full. It would have been fuller I reckon if the prices on craft beer weren't quite so high.

Also "The Pub Loses its pulling power"
[url:1x8mg746]http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/weekend/2012/0218/1224311962363.html[/url:1x8mg746]

On this second article, one of the reasons put forward for many pubs closing is:

[quote:1x8mg746]“As people got richer and more sophisticated they weren’t prepared to sit in a dirty pub any more. Young people in particular wanted newer, brighter, more modern places to meet in.”[/quote:1x8mg746]

[quote:1x8mg746]“There are still nondescript pubs with nothing special to recommend them. Many, with their dark, dingy interiors and grubby counters, look like they haven’t been done up since 1954. These places are not going to survive the recession and they probably don’t deserve to survive.”[/quote:1x8mg746]

What, no! No, no, no! That has to be entirely the wrong end of the stick. The decline of pubs started when they began ripping out their wonderful dark interiors and replacing them with bright interiors that made you feel like you were in an airport lounge, or taking a coffee break from a day long seminar. One of my favourite old pubs "The Horseshow House" recently ripped out its 1980's looking interior and replaced it with claustrophobic and bright fittings and fixtures that make me feel like I'm drinking in a hospital. I haven't darkened its doors since.

Even in this article, the examples of pubs that have shut include The Odeon, Thomas Reads and Capital Bars. They were the very definition of that stupid "modern" type bar.

The pubs that are dying are the ones who thought you could just make money by simply existing, that a constant stream of customers would come in and pay whatever the asking price was for the privilege of being allowed sit and drink.

Pubs that are doing well tend to recognise that people don't have as much money to spend these days, that money spent in a pub is discretionary and that it is spent in the hope of a relaxing time to escape from the world. Whether that means enabling a quiet chat, providing the sports on the big screen or in our case providing us with the beers we want to drink, it's not simply a case of opening the doors, selling drink and watch the money rolling in.

&amp;quot;brian_c&amp;quot;:2d9hkguq wrote: What, no! No, no, no! That has to be entirely the wrong end of the stick. The decline of pubs started when they began ripping out their wonderful dark interiors and replacing them with bright interiors that made you feel like you were in an airport lounge[/quote:2d9hkguq]
What that journo is talking about (unwittingly) is fashion. And I think that like me Brian, you might be getting a bit old to be a follower of fashion.

It used to be the case (maybe still is) that the way to revive a dingy old pub used to be to rip out the interior and stick in a modern gaudy funkyzeit-mit-Brüno interior, with more LED lights than a council house at Christmas. It certainly worked in attracting the under 25's. I've seen many pubs down the country go from zero to hero using this approach. Simply put, it had nothing to do with beer... they were just made fashionable to be seen in.

&amp;quot;Tube&amp;quot;:1i5yz9vo wrote: And I think that like me Brian, you might be getting a bit old to be a follower of fashion.[/quote:1i5yz9vo]

Is this what it means to be 30?

These articles mean very little to the likes of us, everyone on here knows that you can walk into a craft beer pub on nearly any day of the week and find it full of punters.

Though, aside from lack of choice, the main reason I avoid non-craft selling pubs is the price. I can get a €4 pint in a Porterhouse or Messrs. I feel robbed now paying anything more for a pint of macro.

It's good riddance to the pubs that are closing, and everyone that goes leaves more room for another craft beer pub. <!-- s:) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_smile.gif" alt="" title="Smile" /><!-- s:) -->

&amp;quot;brian_c&amp;quot;:2noid849 wrote:

&amp;quot;Tube&amp;quot;:2noid849 wrote: And I think that like me Brian, you might be getting a bit old to be a follower of fashion.[/quote:2noid849]

Is this what it means to be 30?[/quote:2noid849]
Yup, it's all downhill from here! <!-- s:shock: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_eek.gif" alt=":shock:" title="Shocked" /><!-- s:shock: -->