A DUBLIN pub that had proposed customers donate the price of a €9 meal to charity have been told by gardai that they must serve the food instead.
Oscars Café Bar in Smithfield had won praise for its innovative “Suspended Meal” idea which saw the pub donate the proceeds of its food purchases to several local homeless charities.
Under the Level 3 restrictions in place in the Irish capital, pubs only allowed to stay open if they are serving food.
However, the owners of Oscars Café Bar had noticed the new rules had generated an alarming level of food waste among customers who only purchased food in order to have a drink.
That was when they hit upon the solution of instead offering customers the option donating the cost of production of the meals to local homeless charities – as long as they provided a receipt.
Unfortunately, the scheme only stayed in place a matter of days before the authorities got in touch.
In a post shared on Facebook, the bar’s owners confirmed that they had been visited by Gardai who told them the arrangement was not in accordance with the current public health guidance.
As a result, they must continue to serve substantial meals alongside drinks if they wish to remain open.
“Regrettably we wish to advise that under the advice of An Garda Siochana we will no longer be offering the facility of our Suspended Meal for the Homeless and will require a substantial meal to be consumed (or not consumed as the case may be) with the purchase of an alcoholic drink,” they wrote on Facebook.
“We have nothing but the utmost respect for the Gardai who are just enforcing the current legislation. It was never our intention to circumvent the law. It was done with the best of intentions with what we thought was a common sense approach to dealing with unecessary food waste.”
“Any money raised to date will be passed onto Brother Kevin's Capuchin Centre along with a €1000 contribution from Oscars. We thank everyone for the fantastic support to date and wish you all a happy and safe Christmas.”
