Hospitality

Inflation bites: why Ireland’s fine dining restaurants are struggling

The shuttering of Richard Corrigan’s Dublin 4 venture after a single year’s trading reveals how the entire restaurant sector is struggling

Takashi Miyazaki, chef patron of Michelin-starred Ichigo Ichie in Cork City. Picture: Claire Keogh

Richard Corrigan’s announcement that he was closing his Ballsbridge outlet, The Park Cafe, which opened only a year ago was met with shock last month.

“In what has been a very challenging time for the hospitality industry, it unfortunately no longer makes commercial sense for us to remain open,” an email sent to customers advising them of the closure said.

With the hospitality industry reeling from the cost of living crisis just after the Covid ...