JD Wetherspoons looks like it’s coming to Camden Street. The Lidl of the pub world, Wetherspoons is known for specializing in low prices in place of a lack of atmosphere in their premises. With no music paid for to fill the awkward silences, the Wetherspoons policy is to get people so loaded on the cheap drink that they create their own natural ambiance of belching and smut.
Recently they have fallen foul of one particularly popular brand, by pulling out of a deal with Heineken over a dispute about pricing, with Heineken adamant that it’s customers must get ripped off equally regardless of which establishment their product is sold at.
This will make an interesting tussle between Wetherspoons and the likes of The Bleeding Horse and The Palace on Camden Street, with that old consumers conundrum of cheap versus tradition rearing its head once again. With the added complication that Wetherspoons is an English franchise, the average Dublin pub-goer will be torn between patriotism and penny-pinching.
The news is sure to spark particular interest in the colleges, with most students not giving a toss about what corner of the earth their money goes to so long as they get hammered.
With Wetherspoons looking to open a total of 30 locations around Ireland, it looks like the days of the Irish pub are well and truly Starbucked.