LOVE THEM OR loathe them, it appears there’s no stopping JD Wetherspoon’s march on Ireland.
The giant UK pub chain has unveiled its plans to open another three pubs in just over three months.
The next stage of the company’s expansion, which includes plans to eventually open 30 venues, will also feature the first Wetherspoon-branded pub in the Republic outside Dublin.
The first venue it plans to open will be The Great Wood in Blachardstown on 23 June, followed by The Old Borough in Swords on 21 July.
The last of the three pubs to open will be The Linen Weaver in Cork, which is due to start serving from 1 September.
JD Wetherspoon’s latest rollout will take its tally of Irish venues to five after the earlier launch of The Three Tun Tavern in Blackrock and The Forty Foot in Dún Laoghaire.
It said it would spend over €6 million developing the sites and create 150 jobs in the process.
The company has also bought four other sites it is in the process of converting, however no opening dates have been scheduled yet.
They include the following locations:
It has also exchanged contracts for a site on East Douglas Street, Cork, but the company is still waiting for planning and licensing approvals.
JD Wetherspoon chairman Tim Martin said the company’s first two pubs had proven “extremely popular” and it was on the hunt for more suitable sites in the Republic.
The expansion comes despite the company running into some early opposition when Heineken, the best-selling lager in Ireland, refused to supply The Forty Foot after the chain offered pints of the brew for €2.95 – almost half the price of some venues.
This week it also fell foul of authorities in the UK after a judge ordered it pay £24,000 in compensation to a group of Irish Travellers who were refused entry to a pub in North London.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say