One last glass for a dying Irish tradition ...

The familiar gnarled chap in the corner is disappearing, thanks to smoke laws. Picture / Reuters.

DUBLIN - One of Ireland's most familiar institutions - the little gnarled old man in the corner of the pub emitting a mix of pipe smoke and philosophical observations - is fast becoming an endangered species.

The smoking ban removed the tobacco from the pubs some time ago but now the small country bar itself is disappearing at an alarming rate.

Modern Irish lifestyles are wreaking havoc on the old ways, leading no fewer than 600 rural bars to shut their doors since 2004. There are predictions that more will close in the years ahead.

Despite an explosion of so-called Irish pubs across the world - you can drink to the Irish Rover almost anywhere in the world - the future looks bleak for the spit-and-sawdust setups the big corporations exploit.

According to Seamus O'Donoghue, former president of the Vintners' Federation of Ireland: "We have seen post offices and shops closing down in rural areas - now we are afraid the same thing is happening to pubs."

The trail of closures is striking: more than 70 in County Cork, more than 50 in Galway, more than 40 each in Limerick, Mayo and Tipperary.

New affluent Ireland has, it seems, less room for the old-fashioned: gone are the days when pubs seemed to outnumber houses in many villages.

The 2004 ban on smoking in bars and other public places had a major impact, especially in rural areas, but it was only first in a series of problems for small publicans. Various charges, according to the vintners, have "spiralled out of control," with hefty rises in the cost of water, waste collection and local authority charges.

At the same time there has been a heavy police clampdown on drinking and driving as part of official efforts to reduce road deaths, which are nationwide perceived as being at an unacceptable level.

The high price of alcohol in Ireland, and an increase of drink sold in off-licences, is also playing a role in shutting down pubs, meaning more people are drinking at home.

The changing patterns were described by Steven Cassidy, who two years ago sold his pub in Gortahork, a remote part of Donegal.

"A lot of my trade would have been old regular people," he said. "There's a lot of old men that worked the land, farmers that make a living from the peat bog. A lot of that would be day-time drinking but that's a thing of the past now. There was the clampdown on drink-driving, plus the smoking ban stopped a lot of the old-timers."

He described the new drinking patterns: "A lot of them are sitting at home now in mid-week, drinking in the house. A lot of the little rural pubs won't open till 7pm or 8pm - there's just nobody there.

"I feel for the older publicans. I just knew it was time to go and I sold the licence. I just thought to hell with it."

By contrast Paddy Logue, who runs a bar near Carrigart in another part of Donegal, has survived in the trade: "We're holding on," he said. "But the amount of drink sold would be a lot less than three or four years ago.

Nigel Tynan, editor of Licensing World, added: "There are a lot of changing trends here, and the Irish pub trade is in a state of transition.

"The publicans are lobbying hard and trying to show that their way of life is vanishing, that we are losing the small premises that have always been a cornerstone of life in rural Ireland, and a major tourist attraction as well.

- INDEPENDENT