The day St. Patrick died

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This article was published 17/03/2020 (2060 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Guinness and green attire may be a rarity in Winnipeg this St. Patrick’s Day, as local pubs weigh the risks of a global pandemic against the financial gains of the biggest drinking event of the year. 

Chris Graves, owner of the King’s Head Pub, announced Monday he was closing the Exchange District watering hole until April 2 as a public health precaution; he is urging other local establishments to do the same.

“It’s not one of, it is the busiest day of the year for the King’s Head, so it’s a big decision to close before that,” Graves said of the annual party, which was set to run from 10 a.m. Tuesday to 2 a.m. Wednesday. “I would ask people to follow suit.”

The King Street pub has a capacity of more than 400 people over two floors. Graves decided to close the doors in an effort to align with recommendations from Manitoba Health to keep public gatherings to less than 250 people — and for the safety of his staff members.

“We can hand-sanitize and clean as much as we can, but we’re still grabbing glassware that’s dirty and plates that are dirty off tables, so I felt like it was the right thing to do,” he said.

While the more than 35 staff members currently on payroll at the King’s Head may be saved from exposure to the virus, Graves is worried what the extended closure will mean for their financial well-being.

“The staff are the most important people to me here and they make minimum wage and they rely on tips… to live,” he said. “It’s great that they can skip the line and they can get on employment insurance quickly, but they’re getting basically employment insurance on minimum wage.”

In response to COVID-19, Service Canada has waived its one-week waiting period for those who are in quarantine or have been directed to self-isolate and are claiming employment insurance benefits.

Graves is considering applying for a loan to help supplement employee wages over the next two weeks and the King’s Head is selling gift cards online for those who want to continue supporting the establishment.

“It’s going to hurt us as well, but we believe we can survive,” he said.

In Osborne Village, Kevin Monk was preparing for what might be a very soft opening at the new Toad in the Hole location on Tuesday — if an opening happens at all.

“I do have all my permits… I’m ready to open right now,” Monk said over the phone on Monday afternoon. “I don’t know what I’m going to do, to be honest.”

The Toad vacated its original location at the beginning of January and moved into the former site of Buccacino’s Fresca Italiana at 155 Osborne St., which Monk co-owns with his brother Michael. After two-and-a-half months of renovations, the owners were planning to mark the pub’s grand re-opening with a St. Patrick’s Day bash — a plan that’s been sidelined by widespread event cancellations and closures in reaction to COVID-19.

“This is the worst possible scenario for someone starting a business,” Monk said. “It’s like a horrible, horrible slap to the face when you put all your money and time into this and then all of a sudden extenuating circumstances happen.

“(It) means that we don’t have work for anyone and we have to go back into our savings. This is my livelihood — it’s not like I can go and sell you beer online.”

If the Toad does open on Tuesday, it will be with limited capacity and plenty of hand-sanitizing stations throughout the pub.

Despite event cancellations and warnings from public health officials not to gather in large groups, determined partygoers held unsanctioned St. Patrick’s Day parades and block parties in Chicago, small-town Georgia and Waterloo, Ont. over the weekend. 

Last Friday, the Irish Association of Manitoba postponed its ninth annual St. Patrick’s Day parade and closed its Erin Street clubhouse indefinitely in response to the pandemic.

Shannon’s Irish Pub and Eatery will also be closed Tuesday for the first time since 2002.

“It’s the right thing to do as a small family business we need to play our part,” a member of the pub’s management team told the Free Press via Facebook.

The establishment was also shuttered Monday and its owners will be making closure decisions on a daily basis moving forward.

At press time, dowtown nightclub 441 Main and the Thirsty Lion Tavern hadn’t responded to requests for comment from the Free Press regarding the status of their St. Patrick’s Day events scheduled for March 17.

 

 

 

eva.wasney@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @evawasney