Motion by Cork councillor calling for rural pub incentives gets cross-party support

The decline in rural pubs in West and North Cork and throughout the country was one of the factors cited by a councillor in describing Ireland as “the loneliest nation in Europe”.

Brendan McCarthy, a Fine Gael councillor in the West Cork/Skibbereen district, said he was calling for incentivisation for rural pubs to remain open, insisting it wasn’t “about selling more drink or promoting alcohol in any way”.

Speaking at last week’s Cork County Council meeting, Mr McCarthy said he had grown up in a pub and appreciated the role they played in the community.

“One such pub near Skibbereen closed a number of years ago, and I was there the night it closed. It was said on the night, not by the publican, that the pub was the community centre where you gathered after…