Not just pouring pints: Experienced staff missed as Irish pubs reopen

Until very recently, O'Donoghue's, a pub where the Irish folk band the Dubliners made their name, did not have a customer cross its threshold since March 2020. Photos: Niall Carson/PA Wire/dpa

It's been a long time since anyone in Ireland has been able to enjoy a pint in a pub, which were forced to stay closed as the pandemic upended public life around the entire globe.

But as pubs are now allowed to reopen, it doesn't mean the challenges are over: Ireland's pub industry now must figure out how to replace the people skills of staff who left the trade during the pandemic.