20 percent of Galway rural pubs closed since 2003

Galway Bay fm newsroom:

There's been a drop of 20 percent in the number of rural pubs across Galway over the past 13 years.

That's according to new figures from the Drinks Industry Group of Ireland, which examined premises between 2003 and 2018.

They show that there were 464 rural pubs open across Galway last year - that's a drop of 110 on the figure of 574 recorded in 2003.

Nationally, the biggest decrease was in Co. Limerick, which has seen almost 30 percent of its rural pubs close over the past 13 years.

While in Co. Dublin, just over 1 percent of pubs closed during the same time.

Chief Executive of the Irish Vintners Association Padraig Cribben spoke to our reporter Paul Hyland about the situation facing rural publicans