PUBS and restaurants have reaped the benefits of returning punters over the Christmas period.
For bars here, the busiest days included St Stephen’s Day, ‘Freaky Friday’ (December 21), as well as Christmas Eve.
They will be hoping for a final push tomorrow night (New Year’s Eve), before the Christmas calendar winds down.
“We’re very fortunate to have a lot of people travelling back home form wherever they work and they use Blakes as a socialising spot,” explained Mark Edwards, manager of Blakes of the Hollow.
“It’s been a gradual build-up from an average November to the Christmas rush. Boxing Day is always the busiest, Christmas Eve was exceptionally busy – as was Freaky Friday (December 21).
“We’ve been offering four bars with something different in each, so we can cater for all types of crowds.
New Year’s eve will be the last one in the Christmas calendar, and we’re also holding ‘Cradle Rock’ a charity music night.”
Mark concluded: “I didn’t hear of any major trouble in town and I can only speak for ourselves but we have been busy over the Christmas period, and it’s good for everyone to get a slice of the cake.”
John Fitzpatrick, of the Devenish Bar and Jazzey’s in Enniskillen, also felt the beneits, noting that the Christmas period exceeded expectations.
“The Christmas period was great. We anticipated a busy one, and it certainly exceeded our expectations.
“Our busiest would be a toss up between most nights to be quite honest, but if I had to say, it’s hard to choose between our Christmas draw night, and Boxing night.
He added: “We are getting all sort of age groups and it makes us happy that all sorts of people choose the Devenish bar. This is most definitely an important time of the year for pubs. Most people are off on holidays and want to socialise with their friends over a few beers, and it is the time for the pubs to do a good turn and make the most of the festive season.”
The Manor House hotel was fully booked out over Christmas, according to general manager, Brendan McCann.
“We were fully booked for accommodation right across the festive break. The mix was all age groups from recently engaged couples to families to older couples,” he said.
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