Northern Ireland

Hospitality industry calls for more help

Richie Keenan, manager at the Hatfield Bar in South Belfast.
Richie Keenan, manager at the Hatfield Bar in South Belfast. Richie Keenan, manager at the Hatfield Bar in South Belfast.

Hard hit hospitality traders have called for more financial help from Stormont after the industry was ordered to lock down for a month.

Tough restrictions have been introduced as part of the latest round of measures revealed by the executive yesterday to fight the Covid-19 virus.

Under the tough new regulations all hospitality outlets, including bars and restaurants, have been ordered to close their doors for four weeks from Friday, although they will be allowed to continue take-away and delivery services.

Representatives of the hotel industry were seeking clarification last night on whether the restrictions also apply to overnight stays.

The latest round of restrictions comes as the number of people contracting the deadly virus continues to rocket.

Richie Keenan, who manages the Hatfield House on the Ormeau Road in south Belfast, said business people want to see the evidence that suggests the hospitality industry is responsible for spreading the virus.

“If they are telling us we are a problem then we need to be able to address it,” he said.

“If we are a problem we don't want to be a problem - we are doing our utmost to be safe.

“If we are going to be locked down it would be helpful if they addressed that point.”

The manager said thousands of pounds had been invested in making his business safe.

He described the staff at the Hatfield as a “family” and said he is worried about jobs.

“It's grim,” he said.

“At the end of the day if the money is not there to pay people then there is only so much we can do.

“We are sort of breaking even or losing a bit of money every week since March.”

With the existing furlough scheme due to close at the end of this month Chancellor of the Exchequer Richi Sunak recently announced that staff at businesses forced to close will receive a proportion of their wages.

Mr Keenan said it is “not enough for people who have been legally mandated to shut”.

He added that while politicians have asked businesses forced to shut to help “there needs to be some sort of nod towards us”.

“There has never been a time when we have had less money in the bank to support forced closure,” he said.

Colin Johnston, Managing Director of the Galgorm Spa and Golf Resort in Ballymena, Co Antrim, said he was “devastated” by yesterday's announcement.

“We question the rationale for imposing a shut down across the hospitality sector while other sectors remain open,” he said.

“We have not seen any detailed evidence to support the case that the hospitality sector is a driver of community transmission.”

He also called for extra financial support.

“Now, our industry is being forced into a period of closure and we are calling for the executive to ensure that urgent financial support is forthcoming for workers so that family incomes are protected and particularly in the run up to Christmas,” he said.

Janice Gault, of the Northern Ireland Hotels Federation, said the restrictions “places the sector in a perilous position”.

Colin Neill, Chief Executive of Hospitality Ulster said “all costs of the sector need to be covered by the government”.

First minister Arlene Foster said: “We understand that these interventions will be hard but they will not be in place for a moment longer than they need to be.

“I would ask everyone to work with us to save lives and protect our health service.”