A Co Fermanagh chef has spoken of his frustration with the NI Executive’s Covid 19 messaging as more than half of his weekend bookings have been cancelled in the last two days.
With concern growing about the Omicron variant of Covid 19, vaccine passports have been introduced for licensed premises while people have been urged to limit their social contacts and meet outdoors where possible.
Glen Wheeler opened 28 at the Hollow earlier this year, and said he is losing faith in the industry and is worried about its future in the current climate.
“I’m losing a lot of faith in hospitality in general. I’ve been at this now for 20 years and after the last lockdown my wife and I set up this restaurant and we’ve made a good go of it,” Glen told MyFermanagh.
“But it has come into our heads, do we want to keep doing this anymore, is it secure?
“I have a mortgage and three young kids at home, do I really want to be risking all that to cook, to be pulled through the mud?
“None of this is enjoyable, and we know everyone is going through the same boat at the minute but I feel that hospitality is an easy target.
“We don’t seem to have learned anything from our previous experiences regarding how we treat hospitality.
“I find there is absolutely no communication, we aren’t hearing anything now until next Wednesday."
Friday night bookings at Glen’s Enniskillen restaurant have plummeted in the last two days, with more than half being cancelled in what is usually the busiest period of the year.
The Executive is due to meet again next week to consider next steps in the fight against Covid and the emerging variant.
He added: “We went from 84 people booked tonight to 36, in the space of two days.
“It’s really worrying, and my biggest concern is my staff. The bottom line is we need furlough if they are going to close us or put strict regulations in.
“I have had many sleepless nights over this, we’re trying our best to do everything we are being told to do.
“Whether it’s stopping people at the door for vaccine passports, which I never wanted to do in a million years, but whatever we have to do to open the doors we’ll do it.
“We just seem to be the number one target when all this comes back up again, no matter how hard we try and no matter what we do.
“We’ve been kicked and kicked when we’re down and it just doesn’t seem fair any more.”
Glen revealed the premises had been inspected on two separate occasions by police this week, as the enforcement of Covid 19 vaccine passports began.
“It’s scary at the minute, and then we’re having to deal with all the vaccine passports.
“We’ve been inspected by police twice this week already, and that’s not nice or what we were ever trained to do.
“It’s not in my eyes what hospitality is about, it’s about entertaining people and giving people a good time.
“We’ve done everything we can but it just doesn’t seem to be enough.
“Why would anyone want to pursue a career in hospitality after this? That’s my fear and we won’t see the damage that’s done for another three or four years when you see your catering colleges empty.”
