Bewley’s on Grafton St is closing permanently

Bewley's on Grafton St will close permanently due to the impact of Covid 19.

The historic café is owned by artist Paddy Campbell, who explained to staff that reopening would be unviable in a note obtained by The Irish Times.  The closure will result in the loss of 110 jobs according to the publication. Campbell's note to staff reads: “Taking into consideration all of the information currently available to us, there is a real likelihood that the cafe will generate substantial and unsustainable losses into the future, and we need to take urgent steps to address that situation. “It is with profound regret that . . . in this situation it is likely to be necessary to permanently close the cafe in the coming weeks.” In the note, Paddy explained that a request for a reduction on the property's €1.5m annual rent had not been granted. The historic cafe opened in Dublin in 1927 but has had a turbulent past. It closed in 2004 to reopen in 2005 and close again in 2016. At the time Chief Executive John Cahill explained that the company had been making losses of €1.2 million and claimed the only option to keep the business from permanent closure was to invest in rejuvenating the café. It reopened in late 2017 following a €12m refurbishment.