Protest to be held at Leinster House over costs faced by shops and restaurants

Former minister and broadcaster Ivan Yates will speak at the demonstration, organised by the Restaurants Association of Ireland and the Vintners Federation of Ireland

Businesses from the hospitality and retail sectors will march to Leinster House on Tuesday to highlight the high costs facing small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs).

Former minister and broadcaster Ivan Yates will speak at the demonstration, organised by the Restaurants Association of Ireland and the Vintners Federation of Ireland.

Business owners will march from Mount Street Upper, past the Department of Finance to Leinster House over the lack of support offered to SMEs in Budget 2025.

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Business owners have said that soaring energy costs, inflated input costs, added to budget changes such as increases to the minimum wage in January and the introduction of pension auto-enrolment in September 2025, is placing "immense strain" on SMEs, particularly in the hospitality and retail sectors.

The business groups have argued that the 'Power Up' grant of €4,000 in the Budget averages out as only an extra €77 a week and will not make "any significant dent" in the cost increases facing businesses.

Chief executive of the Restaurants Association of Ireland Adrian Cummins said: "Restaurateurs, small coffee shop owners and others in the hospitality industry are hardworking people operating in what is currently an incredibly challenging business environment.

"They would much rather be serving great food and welcoming guests from across the country and across the world than travelling to Dublin to protest.

"Unfortunately, the lack of support for hospitality and small businesses in Budget 2025 made this demonstration inevitable.

"We are calling on the Government to engage with us meaningfully so that we can collaborate on policies that will fix the broken model facing hospitality businesses in Ireland today and return viability to the sector."

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