THE RESTAURANTS ASSOCIATION of Ireland has said it is “incredibly disheartening in the current climate” to see some customers failing to notify businesses that they will not be showing up for a booking. 

This comes following reports online of restaurants experiencing a number of ‘no show’ bookings in recent days.

Ireland entered Phase Three of easing Covid-19 restrictions on Monday and since then, cafés and restaurants which provide food and drinks on the premises have been permitted to reopen to customers. 

Pubs that serve “substantial meals” costing at least €9 can reopen in this phase, under guidance issued by Fáilte Ireland.

Similar to how supermarkets and other businesses have worked, all pubs and restaurants must now enforce physical distancing.

The two-metre rule will be made more flexible and can be reduced to one-metre for both tables and customers if specific requirements are met. 

As a result, many restaurants, cafés and pubs have been operating at lower capacity than usual as they implement social distancing measures within their venues.

In recent days, there have been reports online of customers not showing up for their bookings at restaurants. 

Restauranteur Oliver Dunne tweeted that seating capacity at Bon Appetit Malahide has dropped by 30% due to social distancing and that there has been a number of no shows over the past few days.

“Four people last night and nine people tonight didn’t show after confirming their tables earlier in the day,” Dunne tweeted yesterday.

Las Tapas De Lola in Dublin city centre called on customers to make them aware if they cannot attend the booking. 

“Never one to moan… but… if you can’t make it to your booking, especially when we’re all working on a much reduced capacity and holding on for dear life… please, please, please call to cancel (even if five mins after your supposed arrival time),” it tweeted. 

In a statement to TheJournal.ie regarding ‘no show’ bookings since restaurants re-opened earlier this week, the Restaurant Association of Ireland said: “The RAI is restricted by completion law from discussing booking fees or deposits and making recommendations to its members regarding the same. 

That being said, we find the actions of some customers failing to notify that they will not show for a table booking incredibly disheartening in the current climate. 

“Restaurants have worked hard to reopen their doors, putting safety of staff and customers at the forefront. We would appeal to customers to honour bookings that they have made and continue to support local businesses.”