The Restaurants Association of Ireland says recent restaurant closures in Cork are down to wage inflation and energy costs.
The White Rabbit has announced that it’s closing its branch on MacCurtain Street while The Oyster Tavern, Nash 19 and Tung Sing on Patrick Street have recently announced closures.
Chair of the Cork branch of the Restaurants Association of Ireland and owner of Coqbull and The Cornstore in the City, Michael Ryan says restaurants face huge running costs compared to other businesses:
"It's a massive economy of scales when you're talking about producing food as opposed to the retail sector, because they don't have the same inputs. They have their own inputs. There's a huge energy and labour input on the food side of the hospitality sector.