New € 600,000 car for Bewleys landlord.

The Sunday Indo is way ahead compared to other irish newspapers.
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Way ahead on what? Front page stories about Brian McFadden's last night out on the tear? Or the latest celeb rumour around town? Or Senator Ross's recycling of the same oul guff month after month?

If you mean 'way ahead' down the tabloid road of lurid sensationalism, we are fully in agreement.
 
The Sunday Indep. contains a lot more than the above. A tabloid is generally a "compact" newspaper, half the size of a "broadsheet" like the Sunday Indep. or Sunday Times. It is like comparing A0 and A1.

Piggy says Grafton Street is the best location in the country for a restaurant. It is certainly now the most expensive one, but the best one ? I would have thought the best loction is the location from which the restaurant can make the most amount of money. There are no ground floor restaurants making money in Grafton Street, except perhaps fast food takeaways.

Is this wat you want our premier shopping street to become?
A street full of McDonalds and Burgerkings? Should our premier shopping street be reduced to looking like any high street in Europe or America, just because the rents have increased to the level when the landlord can buy a 600,000 euro car and think nothing of it?

Look at all the money the government pumps in to protecting other parts of our heritage. Do tourists come to Dublin because it has its own identity and to sip coffee in Bewleys, or would they just as happily see the street as a copy of a UK or US street?
 
Hi Rabbit - The SIndo is certainly tabloid in attitude, though admittedly not in size. And it's not that I'm slagging them off because of their right-wing bias. If I were, I'd give equal or more slagging to the Sunday Times, which seems to be slightly to the right of Attila the Hun. But I don't - I respect the Times as a paper, though I wouldn't buy it for myself. I respect the SIndo for wrapping your chips or lighting the fire, but nothing else. It really is a rag.

But to get back to Bewleys - You really are letting yourself down by harping on about the Merc. A touch of sour grapes, I guess? The rent from Bewleys has no material impact on the car issue - it is just a flimsy populist angle for the SIndo to generate another half-page of bile. Don't fall into their trap.

Do I want to see a Grafton St full of British chain stores & fast food joints - No, of course not. But market forces will apply - If these businesses get the custom, then they will pay the rents and will dominate. I won't lose any sleep over that, particularly given the fairly stringent planning requirements that exist to regulate the market.

Bewleys is a nice building, but anytime I've wanted a coffee or snack in the Grafton St area in recent years, I've headed for the Dome at the top of the Stephens Green centre for really tasty food - not the sausages & chips or plastic ham sandwich beloved of Bewleys. I wouldn't want to see a single euro of taxpayers money spent to 'save' Bewleys.

If you really think it is worth saving, why don't you put together a consortium to buy it out on a commercial basis and start up your own restaurant?
 
You say " I respect the SIndo for wrapping your chips or lighting the fire, but nothing else. It really is a rag "

I disagree, and it is a fact that it is the most popular / best selling Sunday Newspaper in Ireland by far. Are you saying their is something wrong with the taste of so many Irish people? It is easy for you to be critical, and no newspaper is perfect, but what newspaper do you read ? I can think of many newspapers that are more biased than the Sunday Indo.; which are softer on criminals and terrorism ; and which are less interesting to read. OK there are some pathetic writers like John O'Keefe in the Sunday Indo, but overall it deserves to be respected as more than "something to wrap your chips in ,or lighting the fire". It is respected by most people, except perhaps the likes of the killers of Veronica Guerin, Sinn Fein/IRA, FARC guerillas, the Taliban etc. Nice company to find yourself in.


You say "The rent from Bewleys has no material impact on the car issue - it is just a flimsy populist angle for the SIndo to generate another half-page of bile."

The rent had no material impact on the car issue ? If the landlord did not get over 700,000 euro per annum from Bewleys, and places like that, would he have bought a fancy new car for over 600,000 euro? The "sindo" as you call it did not do a half page of "bile" or anything else on this, but I am glad they done a smaller piece on this at least, as I think it is in the public interest. We can see where the landlords priorities lie. Perhaps he was right legally to increase the rent over the years, but it must be difficult for Bewleys ex-employees facing a jobless Christmas to see this man taking so much money out of the business over the years.


"If you really think it is worth saving, why don't you put together a consortium to buy it out on a commercial basis and start up your own restaurant? "

I do not have the time or the money - or probably the ability -to do such a thing. I do not think it is commercially possible for a service restaurant to survive in the Bewleys Grafton Street buliding, given that the landlord has pushed the rent up to such high levels, not to mention rates and insurance nowadays etc. Would you undertake to pay a million a year, before wages, food costs, advertising etc ?

I think one day , perhaps in 5 , 10 or 20 days time, we will all regret losing shops like Bewleys.
 
Ironic that you choose to mention Veronica Guerin, given the Indo's total failure to protect their staff in this case. Her son is growing up without a mother because the SIndo so badly wanted another exclusive or two. They have blood on their hands. They failed Veronica (a view shared by her brother Jimmy until he took a job at the SIndo, funnily enough). I'm sure the Shinners, the FARC, the Taliban & AlQueda are all shaking in the boots at the possibility of another front page expose from the SIndo - I can see the headline now - "Osama spotted in Lillies snogging Kerry McFadden" - sub-head "Brian writing a song to cash in on his devastation".

You ask why is it the most popular Sunday paper in Ireland? Ever heard about the Boiled Frog. The SIndo is living on past glories, and their market share is dropping steadily. The sheer bulk of their backers allows them to support their product with heavy advertising spend. Many people buy out of habit. I rarely get any newspapers now. Occasionaly, I might get Saturday's Irish Times or the Sunday Turbine, but that seems to be going downhill of late (the free CD's is a sure sign that they have lost the plot).

If the landlord did not get over 700,000 euro per annum from Bewleys, and places like that, would he have bought a fancy new car for over 600,000 euro?
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You're going round in circles now. You told us up above that;

I know "the MD of Treasury holdings can afford his 600,000 euro car with or without the rent from Bewleys Grafton Street "
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So why do you keep harping on about his car? What kind of car do you drive? Why don't you buy a car costing half your current car and give the rest of the money to the Bewleys staff party fund? If you didn't draw down your exorbitant salary from your employer, wouldn't the Bewleys staff have a better Christmas? Or why don't you sell half your house and move to a smaller property to fund Bewleys? Or perhaps it is only people who are richer than you that you expect to give away money. To the guy sleeping the shop doorway opposite Bewleys, you are 'Johnny Ronan' (in relative terms). So I've now decided that your car, your house, your salary are in 'the public interest' and I'm going to publish a photo of your car outside a restaurant next week - any objection?

I do not think it is commercially possible for a service restaurant to survive in the Bewleys Grafton Street buliding, given that the landlord has pushed the rent up to such high levels, not to mention rates and insurance nowadays etc. Would you undertake to pay a million a year, before wages, food costs, advertising etc ?
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But you expect Johnny Ronan to fund this out of his pocket so a few backpacking Germans can stare at the stained glass windows? Or worse still - a state subsidy? Get real - This isn't 'our heritage' - This is a cafe which has served substandard food for years now.

If you think Johnny Ronan's car is 'in the public interest' you are missing the point. And of course, Dr AJF O'Reilly is very happy for you to miss the point. He wouldn't want you thinking about the important issues in life, like our social structures, or media ownership, or tax shelters for the wealthy. Keep worrying about Johnny Ronan's car and Bewley's cafe - this will keep you away from doing anything really useful for society.
 
Dear Mr. Moderator,

you say "Ironic that you choose to mention Veronica Guerin, given the Indo's total failure to protect their staff in this case. Her son is growing up without a mother because the SIndo so badly wanted another exclusive or two. They have blood on their hands. They failed Veronica" Blaming the Sunday Indo. newspaper for Veronica Guerins death is like blaming the British for the Enniskillen bomb, or the US / British when someones head gets hacked off in the middle east. When a murder like Veronica Guerins happens, its easy to blame everyone except the bad guys. Why did the newspaper not give her security etc - well where do you draw the line. Do you give her round the clock armed guards? Do you give everyone in every branch of the media who dares question the gunmen armed protection ?


You say "Occasionaly, I might get Saturday's Irish Times or the Sunday Turbine, but that seems to be going downhill of late (the free CD's is a sure sign that they have lost the plot)." The last time I got the Irish times, they were spouting anti-British politics in the sports columns.....its bad enough having anti American and anti-British sentiment in the rest of the Irish times. Not a very balanced publication.


You say :Quote:
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If the landlord did not get over 700,000 euro per annum from Bewleys, and places like that, would he have bought a fancy new car for over 600,000 euro?
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You're going round in circles now. You told us up above that;


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I know "the MD of Treasury holdings can afford his 600,000 euro car with or without the rent from Bewleys Grafton Street "--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The above 2 statements are not mutually exclusive. Johnny Ronan presumably can afford his new 600,000 euro car without the rent from Grafton St., as he has so many other properties. However, the key words are "and places like that ". If he had not the rent from "Bewleys, and places like that, would he have bought a fancy new car for 600,000 euro ?" I think not.



To the guy sleeping the shop doorway opposite Bewleys, you are 'Johnny Ronan' (in relative terms). So I've now decided that your car, your house, your salary are in 'the public interest' and I'm going to publish a photo of your car outside a restaurant next week - any objection?

When my car is the most expensive car in the country, and would cost the price of several houses, I am sure the public would like to know more about it.

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I do not think it is commercially possible for a service restaurant to survive in the Bewleys Grafton Street buliding, given that the landlord has pushed the rent up to such high levels, not to mention rates and insurance nowadays etc. Would you undertake to pay a million a year, before wages, food costs, advertising etc ?
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