The Galway businessman and publican behind the ‘cheapest pint in Ireland’ has slammed Diageo brass as they announced the fourth price hike on the draught pint in just two years – this time a six-cent increase to the publican per pint.
Colm Redmond of Johny O Loughlens at the Zetland Country House Hotel spoke to Galway Beo as pubs experience what he believes is “one of the worst years for SMEs in the history of the state” due to the pressures they find themselves under.
Colm slates Diageo as they yet again passed on costs to struggling businesses: “Diageo are a billion-euro multinational company with a global reach. Their flagship product, Guinness, has the same level of brand recognition as Coca-Cola, and they are destroying that brand by pricing it out of people’s reach.
“Diageo should be able to absorb a six-cent cost, instead of passing it to small businesses who are already struggling under rising costs away from the tap.
“And, they should have the vision and the foresight to know that the time will come when their [Diageo’s] costs will return to normal, but the very places where they sell their products will be gone.”
Famously, Colm and Johny O Loghlens kept their pint of Guinness at €3.90 until well in 2024 in the face of rising costs and being hammered by Diageo’s price hikes.
Perched next to beautiful Cashel Bay, Johny O Loughlens and Zetland Country House Hotel serve many tourists throughout the year, but Colm has always tried to keep prices sensible for the ‘backbone of this business’.
He told Galway Beo in 2022 that “we have to think about our regulars, because that’s the backbone of our business and what gets us through the winter.”
Reluctantly, Colm set the new price, still the cheapest in Ireland, at €4.20 in 2024 and tells Galway Beo “I always resist putting the prices up as long as I can, but this time I might have to reconsider. I am basically being forced to put it up – and this will be the first time ever I have ever had to pass on a price increase like this.”
Colm Redmond pouring a pint of Guinness at Johnny O’Loghlens bar, Connemara
Colm also believes that Diageo are “strangling the goose that laid the golden egg.”
“It was the pub trade in Ireland, and, in particular, the high consumption of Guinness in pubs, that laid the foundations for the success of Guinness, and, later, Diageo.
“And, I might add that ordinary working man in Ireland, for decades, had very little spare income, but what they had spent on bottles of Guinness. Hundreds of thousands of bottles were sold to working people as their one joy in life. This built Guinness as well, and built Diageo, and yet the company can give the ordinary punter this slap in the face.
“I am shocked over their behaviour. Not just that the price of the pint of Guinness for the publican has gone up for almost a euro in two years. Not just at the fourth price hike in that time. But, at the timing.
“They should have held this back until, at least, June. This is the lean time of the year. Nobody has money after Christmas, every business feels that pinch.
“What were they thinking when they decided to raise the prices now – there’s no meat on the bone. This year, I believe, will be the worst year in the history of the state for SMEs, or up there.”
The price of a pint is of great concern to publicans like Colm aiming for sensible prices
(Image: Zetland Country House Hotel)
Colm believes that SMEs are more than businesses for many owners: “SMEs are the biggest sector in terms of employment in the state, but more than that, small businesses are passionate about what they do. And that’s what makes Irish business culture so unique.”
Colm is passionate about pub culture and the role of the publican in the heritage of the nation, but he is also a realist on how this aspect of Irish culture is part of the tourist appeal.
“The average German, American or English tourist goes to the Cliffs of Moher or Pheonix Park once, but goes to a pub every night. To go back to that unique Irish business culture, tourists enjoy that special culture of a local pub.
“This is a culture that brings people in from all over the world, a culture that took centuries to create, and it’s being strangled by moves like this by Diageo.”
Colm believes that some kind of intervention is needed to protect this vital aspect of Irish culture, not just for the millions of Irish people who take a pint in their local but for the sake of our multibillion euro tourist trade.
“Fáilte Ireland is upping their spend on promoting Ireland as a tourist destination to people in Continental Europe, to bring people in. But, bring them in to what exactly?? The number of pubs is dwindling. Once that culture has died, it’s gone. I would call on Fáilte Ireland to get behind the bar trade for those reasons alone.
“That €40 million or so could have been better spent stabilising the bar trade in Ireland to preserve this vital aspect of our tourism offering. The Americans, the Germans, the French, the Italians, they love the Irish pub.
“It’s something they want to experience. The authenticity of a proper pub is a huge draw for them. I genuinely believe that the old Irish pub is probably our greatest, most marketable product. And it’s being let die out out of greed on one side, and out of indifference on the other.”
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