Business closures hit Ballyfermot
TWO businesses have closed down within a couple of hundred metres of each other in Ballyfermot this week, reports Maurice Garvey.
The Laurence Lounge on Ballyfermot Road Lower, closed its doors on Monday night, citing financial and economic reasons.
Just a stone’s throw down the road, The Pavilion Cafe in Longmeadows Pitch and Putt Club, has also closed, somewhat mysteriously, as the CE scheme funded facility was a popular haunt for local residents.
The closure of The Laurence Lounge has seen up to five people lose their job, although staff were aware of the situation for a number of weeks.
The bar and lounge opened in May 2006 when directors Karl Lee and Joseph Egan established Laurence Inns Limited, which traded as the Laurence Lounge.
News of the closure came as a shock to local football club Scv FC, who had planned to use the bar as a venue for a presentation night on June 6.
The club paid tribute online to a bar with “great staff and some wonderful nights.”
Meanwhile, The Pavilion Café at Longmeadows Pitch and Putt, closed down this week, placing an air of uncertainty over CE scheme workers, who are undergoing training at the facility.
The Pavilion operates as a non-profit organisation, independent of the Longmeadows Pitch and Putt Club.
One CE scheme worker who did not wish to be named told The Echo they are not sure why funding was cut for the programme.
“We feel we have been caught up in the crosshairs of inter-committee cuts – our training is up in the air at the moment,” said the worker.
“The place was popular, particularly for elderly people, who enjoyed good-priced meals for €4 to €5. We are having meetings to decide what we can do.”
The Echo contacted the Department of Social Protection, but the person responsible for the CE scheme in Ballyfermot is currently on holidays.
Fianna Fáil Councillor Daithí de Roiste says the closure of the café is a big blow for the community, and the pitch and putt club.
