Future of the Old Bar in doubt

The future of the main student bar in DCU is in doubt this week after management said they are incurring major financial losses.

A meeting was held last Friday between Trispace, the company charged with running the bar, and several senior DCU figures.

It was found that the university could “no longer afford to keep Trispace in the Old Bar due to major financial losses,” according to DCU Students’ Union president Niall McClave.

“Trispace are officially pulling out of managing the Old Bar, as revenue is down €40,000 on this time last year.

“Officially at the moment there will be no full-time bar in semester two until we find someone who is willing to take it over,” McClave told the College View.

“All parties involved in the management of the bar have until the middle of January to come up with plan B.”

McClave said it’s a “possibility” that the SU would take over the bar’s management.

“We just have to look at the figures to see whether or not the Union could afford to take it over. If it was financially viable, I’d like to see that happening.”

When asked about the reasons behind student apathy towards the bar, McClave feels that it is “a general sign of the economy”.

“Spending across campus in all food outlets is down. I know that the Starbucks’ revenue this year is down by about 30% on last year’s figures. I think that people just have less money.

“For example, last night we were in the bar and there was a huge crowd, but we reckoned that only one in every six people was drinking,” he added.

McClave also said that drink prices in the bar were not to blame for the downturn in profits.

“There’s a system used to work out the prices for the Old Bar.

“What usually happens is that [Trispace] take the average price of drinks in three bars in the locality - the Autobahn, The Slipper and Quinns.

“Five or ten cent is then taken off that price. Prices are actually very competitive but students still aren’t being drawn to the bar,” he said.

Dr Claire Bohan, director of student support and development, said that with more and more students opting to drink at home instead of in pubs, the financial situation of the Old Bar has become “dire”.

“The bar is not closing. However the financial situation at the moment for the Old Bar is dire, even worse than this time last year when it was already very bad.

“We met at that time last year and brought in a number of initiatives to increase the bar’s popularity, such as getting rid of the membership fee and encouraging clubs and societies to use the bar for events as much as possible.”

Martin Conry, Secretary of DCU, said that nightclubs in Dublin city are beating college bars by running “incredibly cheap drinks promotions”.

“It’s not just DCU that has this problem - UCD and Cork are suffering too. The business simply isn’t there.

“I don’t have the exact figures but the annual take in the bar is down approximately a quarter on what it was five years ago, while prices and labour costs have gone up - the current regime is simply not working.”

Bohan said that the January meeting is “pivotal” for the Old Bar’s survival.

“We have to ask ourselves: What else can we do to keep it open?

“The students also have a choice – do they want a student bar at all?”

Conry questioned the point in keeping the bar open when only “ten or so people are in it” most of the time.

“When there are so few people there, as is the case at present, there’s simply no vibe or atmosphere.

“There’s no point keeping the bar open just for the sake of having it open,” he said.

McClave said he imagines students would be “very disappointed” should the bar close. “It’s kind of inconceivable to have a university without a bar - we’d be the only university in the country without one,” he said.

“However, we’ll do our best in the Union to ensure that the bar is there next year.”