A pub in Dublin has been warned by gardaí they must serve food with alcohol in accordance with current Covid-19 restrictions.
Oscars Cafe Bar in Smithfield had previously given customers the option to pay €9 for a 'suspended meal', as reported in the Irish Times, after noting the level of food waste coming from customers who only purchased food as a means to have a drink.
The bar said they would they "donate the cost of production to local homeless charities", providing the customer with a receipt.
However, the bar has since posted on social media to say they had been notified that such arrangements are not in accordance with public health measures and the substantial meal must be served with the drink.
Current Level 3 restrictions allow for the reopening of restaurants and pubs serving food, but not wet pubs.
On their Facebook page, the management said: "Under the advice of An Garda Síochána we will no long be offering the facility of our Suspernded Meal for the Homeless and will require a substantial meal to be consumed (or not consumed as the case may be) with the purchase of an alcoholic drink."
The statement added that they never intended to "circumvent the law" and their actions were done with the best intentions, thinking it was "a common sense approach to dealing with unnecessary food waste".
Oscars also pledged to donate the proceeds of the suspended meal, along with an extra €1,000 to Brother Kevin's Capuchin Centre in Bow Street, which provides food and medical services to homeless people in Dublin.
