A Dublin pub that informed customers they could donate the price of a €9 to charity instead of eating it, have been told by gardai it must serve the meal.
Oscars Café Bar in Smithfield, Dublin had earlier this week said they would offer customers “the facility to purchase a meal that will effectively be suspended. We will in turn donate the cost of production to local homeless charities. A receipt will be provided as proof of purchase.”
However, on Saturday evening the bar had a visit from gardai.
They posted that following 'advice' from gardai: “We will no longer be offering the facility of our Suspended Meal for the Homeless and will require a substantial meal to be consumed (or not consumed as the case may be) with the purchase of an alcoholic drink.
“We have nothing but the utmost respect for the Gardai who are just enforcing the current legislation. It was never our intention to circumvent the law. It was done with the best of intentions with what we thought was a common sense approach to dealing with unecessary food waste.”(Sic)
The bar will be donating the money raised, along with their €1,000 donation, to the Capuchin Day Centre for homeless people.
Covid-19 restrictions introduced earlier this year state that people can't drink in a bar unless they buy a meal with a minimum value of €9.
Earlier in December, the Government announced that only pubs where food is cooked on the premises can open.
Owner Ronan Flood explained on RTE Radio One this morning that they didn't have that many people on Friday night choosing to suspend the meal.
He added: "We were not trying to circumvent the law or to find a loop hole to get around it.
"What really stood out was the amount of unnecessary food waste.
"People would have dined in another restaurant and in order to meet a requirement had to order food.
"As far as we're concerned, we're 100% complient in every way shape or form.
"We have a HSE registered Kitchen.
"The bigger crime is the amount of food going in the bin with the amount of people that are homeless in Dublin at the moment."
Ronan Flood said there was eight people on Friday and 15 people on Saturday got the suspended meal.
Most people took the food anyway.
He added to Brendan O'Connor: "We had a visit on Saturday night from the local garda station.
"We had a conversation and agreed to stop it with immediate effect.
"It's been a shocking year.
"We are one of the lucky ones, at least we are able to trade.
"I feel for the publicans that operate wet pubs."
Another Dublin pub had told it's customers on social media they had the option of donating €9 to charity in lieu of being served a meal.
The Camden said that they were "shocked" by the amount of good food ending up in the bin and decided to start the initiative in order to combat the food wastage.
They said: "Since we opened last Friday, quite a lot of good food remains untouched and ends up in our bin on a daily basis.
"We are now facilitating the purchase of a €9 meal that will effectively be suspended and in turn be donated to Temple Street Foundation | Children's Charity Ireland.
"All funds raised will be donated on January 4th 2021. We hope this small gesture will make a real difference in the lives of our little patients and their families."
