Irish restaurateurs cut the cost of eating out

Restaurants and hotels in the Irish Republic, under fire from locals and tourists for the high cost of eating out, are planning a fightback with the introduction of "special value menus".

The initiative, put forward by the Restaurants Association of Ireland and supported by the Irish Hotels Federation, will be officially launched by Tourism Minister John O'Donoghue in the run-up to the St Patrick's Day celebrations on 17 March, which is traditionally regarded as the start of the tourist season.

Under the new deal, there will be fixed-price menus costing €10, €20 and €30, offering diners a main course and either a starter or a dessert. The price will depend on the type of restaurant, ranging from €10 in a pasta bistro to €30 in the more upmarket eateries, and there will be no extra taxes or service charges.

The chief executive of the Restaurants Association, Henry O'Neill, predicted that most of its 500 members would sign up for the scheme, and he expected almost 1,000 restaurants to be participating by the summer.

He acknowledged that the initiative had been prompted by recent criticism of the cost of eating out in Ireland, particularly since the adoption of the euro, with the Consumers' Association accusing some in the sector of profiteering.

"The Irish restaurant business isn't very rosy just now," he said, "so we have to look at ways to improve that situation while, at the same time, dealing with the perception people have that eating out in this country has become too expensive."

He pointed out that some of Dublin's top restaurants, such as Patrick Guilbaud's and Thornton's in the Fitzwilliam Hotel, already offered special-value menus, with a two-course set lunch for €30, while others had reduced their prices for early-evening diners.