The tale of 2 café’s

About 30 years ago Rosslare Harbour morphed into Rosslare Europort.  Central to the rebrand was the new terminal at the harbour which won award after award for its design. 2 railway stations rolled into one with walkways to the ships. Integrated services for foot passengers meant that trains and ships ran together.  I remember travelling from Dublin on the 13.30 and transferring to the ship for Le Havre with just a 20 minute stop over. On the other hand arriving in Le Havre meant a shuttle bus to the railway station where you had a full 90 minute wait for the train to St Lazare.

Ferry services to Le Havre are a thing of the past. Rosslare Europort has also lost its sheen. The train no longer draws up at the platform. About 10 years ago it was relocated overnight to a new platform to the rear of a redundant engine shed.  Foot passengers have dropped off as  the focus has moved to cars and road freight.

One causality of the times has been the cafe and bar.  About 20 years ago, I recall watching an Ireland game one afternoon as I waited for the steam train to be turned on the turn table before we came back to town.

Rosslare has ferry links to 4 other ports. One of them is Fishguard.  Fishguard never got the  level of investment from the British government that Rosslare got. Let’s park the legal anomaly about the Fishguard Rosslare Harbour Railway Company. Stena owns the railway station at Fishguard Harbour. While the cafe and bar at Rosslare are a thing of the past, travellers to Rosslare may be interested to know that the cafe on the platform in Fishguard is still going strong. A few weeks ago i had a bite to eat there as I waited for the boat home. For less than a fiver I got a plate of chips with a sausage roll and a cuppa. That was much less than what I’d have paid onboard the ship home.

This is the bit I find interesting. Rosslare has significantly more foot passengers than Fishguard presumably with more money to spend. Yet the café at Rosslare is closed while the one at Fishguard operates.  There’s an opening for someone in the catering business were CIE prepared to offer a realistic lease to re-open the café.  And judging by the price I paid for a simple meal there’s an opportunity for someone to compete with the monopoly that ferries enjoy once the set sail if CIE were prepared to rent out the former café.

Let’s face it, there is no business with a bar. Attitudes to drink have changed. The prospect of BREXIT will eventually mean a return of duty free and the dreaded booze cruises. Who’d invest long term in a bar when the shipping line might possibly undercut you? But food is different. 

CIE asked for a bail out from the state about 4 years ago. Nobody asked them if they were maxing their assets to ensure that all possible revenue streams were contributing to the company. But then senior civil servants in the Department of Finance are rarely found supping tea while waiting for a ferry to Ireland.