Politicians lack vision to save city, Willie Jack tells Yearbook

Veteran publican Willie Jack has told LCN’s Yearbook that politicians are failing Belfast as it bids to bounce back from Covid while battling a cost-of-living crisis.

The Harp Bar owner  said: “None of us want to become a weekend only venue as if 50% of your income is generated in one day a week it is not easy.

“The city centre has to reimagine itself big time. The hotels are still quite full and there are people coming here at the weekend and flying in for breaks, but you only have to count the dozens of Amazon vans on the roads in the morning to realise the change when it comes to retail and those people are going to continue to shop from home

“I would implore the people in the city council whose job it is to reimagine the space to come and have a look at how quiet it is on Mondays and Fridays, with so many people choosing to work from home on those days.

“Every weekend becomes a bank holiday weekend and while there will be places like the north coast which may benefit from this Belfast does not and Mondays are particularly hard.

“The city centre is a ghost town from Monday to Wednesday and there is not a lot publicans on their own can do to attract people back.”

Willie told the Yearbook he fears that without help many independent businesses many disappear and the fabric of the city will change yet further.

“Where we are with the new university there are those who will survive, like Neighbourhood, who have the right offering for young people and will still pull in some of those working from home for the experience.

“Not everyone can put up coloured umbrellas or put on really good bands or paint murals but there are niches like comedy etc that can draw people in. It is the standard pub which relies on showing Sky Sports to draw a crowd that will struggle to pay their rates etc.

“I fear a lot more licensees will sell up their business while some that don’t own them will hand their keys back and the licences will be sold to supermarket groups for a petrol station and a one-stop shop.”

That something different would also be driven by more in the way of city centre living, a change Willie says needs to happen sooner rather than later.

“That won’t happen for at least four years and there needs to be investment in green space and primary schools. There is no such thing as fast-track planning here unfortunately.

“When they talk about doing things by 2028 or 2030 that is not fast-track. When you go down Royal Avenue with all the fine buildings and you look at the old Tele building, the Irish News etc, there is opportunity there on the doorstep of the university.

“The people in the council and the various government bodies don’t have the vision. We need young people in who realise how a city changes.”

Read more in the all new LCN Yearbook 2023.